A detailed scientific study into the economic impact of a successful bid is among the documents due to be presented to the 14-member Commission during their visit to the Bavarian capital, with Munich hoping to become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Thomas Bach, the IOC vice-president, who is a key figure in Munich's campaign, has claimed that the bid is already the biggest privately-funded outside the United States in Olympic history.

Its budget has swelled to €29 million (£24.5 million/$40 million) following the announcement that the Metro Group, an international retail network, has signed up to become the 11th national sponsor of Munich 2018.

"We are very happy about the confidence Metro Group has shown in Munich 2018 by confirming this sponsorship," said Bach, the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

"Metro Group’s engagement in our bid to bring the 2018 Winter Games to Munich is more proof that, not only is Germany’s economy firmly behind the bid, but that there is also a strong bond between business and sports in this country."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to travel here on Thursday (March 3) to host a dinner for the Commission, which has already visited Munich's rivals Annecy and Pyeongchang.



A meeting is also planned by the IOC team tonight with opponents of the Games who include some farmers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen who are refusing to give up land for events.

But Munich officials remain enthusiastic and optimistic that the Evaluation Commission will give them a good report, which is due to be published on May 10 with the IOC meeting at its Session in Durban on July 6 to pick the host city.

"We’ve worked really hard in the last weeks but now we are ready to deliver," said Katarina Witt, the two-time Olympic skating champion who is the chair of Munich 2018.

"We are very excited.

"The concept we are going to present over the next week comes from the heart.

"We hope that our drive and our passion reach the hearts of the Evaluation Commission."

For Bach, tipped to succeed Jacques Rogge as IOC President in 2013, this will be a different experience.

He led the IOC Evaluation Commissions that inspected the bids for the 2002 Winiter Olympics - won controversially by Salt Lake City - and the 2004 Summer Games - awarded to Athens.

“I don’t know, now I am sitting in front of some people that I have been grilling, so I just don’t know," he laughed when asked if this would be an advantage.

"We will see, I am not worried, but on a more serious note having this experience maybe it can help our bid to be able to read between the lines when a question is asked - maybe purposefully not being asked in a straightforward way.

"I hope that I can be of help to the bid committee."

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