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Hamburg 2024 Olympic Bid Collapses After Majority Vote 'NO' In Referendum

German high-performance sports will develop further despite the rejection of Hamburg's bid for the 2024 Olympics, but sports officials and politicians say that "decades may now pass until the nation may get another chance to host the Games," according to John Bagratuni of the DPA. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed "regret" that 51.6% of the voters said no to Olympics in the northern German port. German deputy government spokesperson Christiane Wirtz said, "But of course ... this result has to be respected. That's why you hold referendums, to find out what the people want." A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry, which also handles sport, said that "future bids -- at least in the near future -- will not be easier with such a vote." German Athletics President Clemens Prokop said that Olympics will not "be an issue for a generation," after the second rejection by the public of a German Olympic bid, following a '13 referendum "with a similar result on Munich's attempt to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics." Reasons believed to be behind the negative outcome include: "the general financial aspect; a large number of migrants coming to Germany, security concerns after the Paris attacks; scandals around major sports federations such as football's FIFA and athletics' IAAF; and the awarding of big sports events to countries with dubious human rights records including Russia and Qatar." But, speaking of a "catastrophe," Bobsled & Luge Federation President Andreas Trautvetter said, "We approve double-digit billion figures to save banks and accommodate refugees and want to present ourselves as a broad-minded country -- and then we don't want to invite the youth of the world to the most important high-performance sports event in the world" (DPA, 11/30). REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported Hamburg's withdrawal "reshuffles the cards in the race to land the world's biggest multi-sports event." Hamburg 2024 Bid CEO Nikolas Hill said, "We expected a different result. The result nevertheless is clear for us, we have to accept it. There will be no discussion or rethinking it. That is it. That is what they wanted." Hamburg was "the only one of the five bidders to vote on whether the city should bid for the games, with the result a major embarrassment for German sports chiefs who had insisted on another bid after the crushing defeat of Munich 2022" (REUTERS, 11/30).

LOST OPPORTUNITY: The AFP reported the IOC said that Hamburg's referendum rejecting its bidding for the 2024 Olympics is a "lost opportunity for Germany." A spokesperson also insisted that "there would still be a strong contest between the remaining contenders" -- Budapest, L.A., Paris and Rome. An IOC spokesperson said, "Having followed the discussions in Germany over the last weeks, this result does not come as a complete surprise. With this decision a great opportunity for the city, the country and the sport in Germany is lost." The spokesperson said that "Hamburg would miss about" $1.7B in IOC investment (AFP, 11/30).

NO REFERENDUM FOR PARIS: In a separate piece the AFP reported in response to the 51.6% of Hamburg voters who said “No” in a referendum for the city’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics, “those in charge of the Paris 2024 bid have maintained their position to not hold a referendum.” Paris 2024 General Dir Etienne Thobois said that referendums early in the candidature process “have always shown a greater mobilization of opposition than support.” He also noted that 65% of Hamburg residents were “for the Olympic Games in the last survey.” Thobois: “This type of project always generates misconceptions and requires educating the public to show the virtuous aspects.” Recently, other cities have “given up their bids following a public consultation,” notably Oslo 2022, Stockholm 2022 and Boston 2024. British entrepreneur Patrick Nally, considered a “founding father” of sports marketing, said, “The corruption scandals in FIFA and doping in athletics, the memory of the high costs of Sochi 2014, the terrorist attacks in Paris… have all contributed to creating a negative feeling. The general sentiment is not of optimism in Europe and any Olympic referendum would most likely receive a negative response.” Paris 2024 Bid Committee Co-President Tony Estanguet said, “The subject of the Olympics should not be reduced to a simplistic question of 'Yes' or 'No'" (AFP, 11/30).

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