The Hungarian capital has "likely lost its chance to organize Summer Olympic Games" in '24, the bid's chief said on Sunday "after a nascent political movement collected a quarter million signatures to force a referendum on the bid," according to Marton Dunai of REUTERS. Budapest was "considered a long-shot candidate next to powerhouses Los Angeles and Paris but the eastern European city pinned high hopes" on the IOC's "new frugal bid concept," known as Agenda 2020. A political accord behind the bid "once included most parties, the government and Parliament, which voted to support the candidacy" in '15. That "broad unity evaporated" as the new political group, called Momentum, "tapped into popular dissent." Balazs Furjes, a government commissioner for special projects and the chief organizer of the '24 bid, said on Sunday that "he saw no chance" for a Hungarian Games in '24. He said, "Now that unity has gone up in the air, and lacking that we stand no chance against Paris or Los Angeles. This ship has sailed, it seems" (REUTERS, 2/20).
