Hamburg to bid for 2024 Olympics

Frankfurt, March 17 (IANS)

Germany's Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has decided to recommend Hamburg for the 2024 Olympic bidding process. The decision in favour of Hamburg and against Berlin as Germany's candidate city for the bidding process was made at a meeting at the DOSB's ruling bureau here on Monday, reports Xinhua.

"This is not a decision against one of the two cities but Hamburg presented a fascinating and compact Olympic concept. Hamburg has the chance to become an Olympic centre in the north of Germany," DOSB president Alfons Hoermann said.

According to Hoermann, one of the things that played a role in Hamburg's favour was a representative survey in which 64 percent of the city's residents were favoured hosting the Olympics.

By contrast, a poll for Berlin showed only an approval of 55 percent. However, besides these surveys, the voting of the umbrella organisations played a part in the election of Hamburg as Germany's candidate.

"Of the 33 Olympic umbrella organisations that took part in the vote, 18 voted for Hamburg, 11 for Berlin and four for both cities," Hoermann said.

On March 21, the DOSB will vote with its members on the recommendation. Nevertheless, before the DOSB can submit the official bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), they will have to hold a referendum in Hamburg to ensure that at least 50 percent of the population is behind the bid.

The cities that bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics have to submit their official candidacy by September 15. The IOC will announce the host city in the summer of 2017.