Nanjing (China), Nov 18 (IANS) International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said here on Monday that he was not upset with a vote of Munich residents against the city’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Games.
All four districts in the potential Munich bid returned a “no” vote in a referendum held on Nov 10. Opponents were concerned about environmental issues and high costs, reports Xinhua.
When asked if he feels upset by the vote, Bach said: “Not upset. This is what can happen in Germany. It’s one of the long series of referendums…Just a couple of months ago, the citizens in Munich voted against a runway in the airport with much higher participation. Then in this one (Olympic bid), you have to see the participation was very limited, so you cannot speak of real majority, the overall population.”
“I hope in the future German citizens will be more courageous again,” added the former head of the German Olympic Committee.
Six candidates are now in the running for the 2022 Games. They are Stockholm (Sweden); Oslo (Norway); Lviv (Ukraine); Beijing and the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou; Almaty (Kazakhstan), and a joint bid from Krakow (Poland) and Jasna (Slovakia).
Bach, who is on a two-day visit to China, said that the IOC is delighted about Beijing’s attempt to become the first city to host the Summer and Winter Olympics, after staging the 2008 Summer Games.
“We are very pleased to receive this candidature (from Beijing and Zhangjiakou), because it offers a new approach to the Winter Games, offering winter sports a capital like Beijing and to the people all over China. It’s a very interesting project,” he said.
But with the 2018 Winter Olympics to be staged in South Korea’s Pyeongchang and the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, there has been speculation that Beijing stands little chance of winning the 2022 bid.
Bach denied that there is a rotation of continents policy when the IOC members choose the host city.
“I think the IOC members look at the bid individually. Of course, overall, we want to be a universal movement and address different continents. But this has nothing to do with individual decisions,” said the IOC chief.
Also Monday morning, Bach inspected the athletes village and the Olympic sports complex for next year’s Summer Youth Games in Nanjing.
