[1] On 6 March 2010, during a sports facility opening ceremony, Polish President Lech Kaczyński announced that he would like his country to be a candidate for 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

[2] A month later, on 10 April 2010, he died in a tragic plane crash, which killed 96 people including him, his wife, and the President of the Polish Olympic Committee.

[3] On 19 and 20 October 2012, Polish and Slovak NOCs with Kraków city administration had a meeting in which they agreed to submit the bid possibly in 2013 and formed an official alliance.

[7] Kraków confirmed their joint bid with Jasná, Slovakia to host the 2022 Winter Olympics on November 7, 2013.

[8] Initial opinion polls commissioned by Kraków city authorities returned results in favour of holding the Games.

A majority of 68% of participants in a public opinion poll held in June 2013 among Kraków's residents supported the bid,[9] with 25% being against.

[12] A citywide poll in Kraków realised by LoveKraków.pl news website gave 36,3% answers supporting the Games with 63,7% being against.

[15] Main concerns raised by the critics are expected exorbitant costs, likely cost overruns and the resulting rise in Kraków's debt, as well as the need to build sport facilities of little use beyond the games, in contrast to limited interest of Kraków city authorities in spending public money to improve the quality of life of the population.

[17] Even though the bid was still in early stages, in February 2014 the bid committee has already drawn much criticism in the national press for employing staff (financed from public money) according to unclear criteria, questionable spending on promotional activities including TV spots and a visit by city officials to the Sochi Olympic Games, as well as awarding the contract for preparation of the Games application to a company involved in the 2010 Commonwealth Games corruption scandal.

[20] The application was criticised for misinforming the International Olympic Committee on climatic and environmental conditions, in particular for failing to provide true information on catastrophic air pollution in both Kraków and Zakopane.

According to Polish law, the result of a local referendum is binding if 30% of eligible voters cast their votes; this criterion was met, as the participation rate was 35.96%.

[30] On 26 May 2014, Majchrowski explained that in view of the negative result of the referendum, Kraków would withdraw its bid for the Winter Olympics.

In 2012, during UEFA European Championship none of the events were held in Kraków, although English, Dutch and Italian teams chose the city as their base-camp.

In 1929, 1939 and 1962 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships were held in the Zakopane and Tatra Mountains area.

The proposed venues plan comprises:[32] The bid logo is inspired from the Polish decorative pattern called parzenica.

The Kraków-Zakopane road is notorious for traffic jams in high tourist season and during major sporting events.