Trixi Schuba, Austrian Chancellor Gusenbauer and AOC''s Leo Wallner.

(ATR) In his first public comments about the Salzburg Winter Olympics bid, the new Austrian chancellor reiterates government support for the Games, while the search for a new bid CEO may be drawing to a close.

"We would love to be host nation and invite the Olympic Family to Austria to celebrate together with our guests from all over the world the 2014 Winter Games," said Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer in Vienna Friday.

"Our National Parliament passed the Olympic Law by a staggering majority, clearly demonstrating the nations support for this enterprise. I personally endorse Salzburgs 2014 bid and will promote it on all my foreign travels," says Gusenbauer.

Gusenbauer took office in January after a couple of months of negotiations to form a new government.

The chancellor was presented with a Salzburg 2014 uniform by bid leaders Leo Wallner, Austrian Olympic Committee President and secretary general Heinz Jungwirth.

"I am delighted that the new Austrian government and the new Federal Chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, fully support

Salzburg's bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," says AOCs Wallner.

"I had always been confident this would be the case, as I know Chancellor Gusenbauer to be a sports enthusiast," said Wallner.

Also on hand for the meeting at Gusenbauer's office was Trixi Schuba, figure skating gold medalist and a Salzburg 2014 ambassador.

Meanwhile in Salzburg, the four-week search for a new CEO for the bid is coming to an end.

The only one of the 2014 bids lacking a chief executive, Salzburg needs to find one quickly, with less than a month to go before the IOC Evaluation Commission comes to the city.

It is believed that the two top-ranking executives for the bid, operations chief Rudy Hoeller and planning director Gernot Leitner, are among the candidates.

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