Budapest to withdraw bid to host 2024 Summer Games
BUDAPEST: Budapest on Wednesday became the latest city to drop out of the race to host the 2024 Olympic Games, after a petition garnered enough signatures to force a referendum on their bid.
“As the necessary unity in Budapest has been lost, the bid has lost all of its chances,” the government of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced in a statement posted on its website.
“That is why the government of Hungary proposes to withdraw the candidacy from the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Budapest.”
The Hungarian capital’s decision leaves the battle to stage the 2024 Games between Paris and Los Angeles.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due to reveal the winner on Sept 13.
Hamburg — following a referendum — and Rome had already pull out of the contest to succeed 2020 hosts Tokyo, both citing financial concerns.
Budapest’s move was announced after the sports-mad Orban, a big champion of the bid, held talks with Budapest mayor Istvan Tarlos and the Hungarian Olympic Committee on Wednesday evening.
“Budapest will formally ask the city council to withdraw Hungary’s candidacy in agreement with the government,” Tarlos was quoted as saying by the MTI news agency after the meeting.
The mayor had previously said he could not “ignore the will of the people” in light of the referendum push.
Hungary’s bid was dealt a fatal blow after a group of young activists collected over a quarter million signatures of Budapesters within a month to hold a vote on the bid.
The Momentum Movement (MoMo) announced last Friday that it had garnered some 266,000 signatures, almost double the threshold required to trigger a ballot.
Within 24 hours, the Hungarian firm in charge of organising the event suspended its operations while awaiting a decision.
Supporters said that Budapest, which unlike Paris or Los Angeles has never hosted the Games, was more suited than its rivals to the IOC’s low-cost ‘Agenda 2020’ strategy.
But critics, fearing spiralling costs and corruption, said taxpayers should decide how their money is being spent.
Recent polls also showed clear majorities in favour of withdrawing the bid.
Budapest’s city council, which holds a majority of Fidesz MPs, now needs to approve the bid’s withdrawal.