Hamburg Out of 2024 Olympic Race

(ATR) Hamburg bid leader partly blames 2006 Germany World Cup cash-for-votes scandal for losing referendum on 2024 Olympics.

Bid CEOIn a shock defeat, 51.6 percent of city residents opposed the bid, both in postal votes and at the ballot boxes on Sunday. Of the 650,000 people who voted - 1.3 million were eligible - only 48.4 percent were in favor.The result was declared official around 21.30 CET.

It was a completely different story in Kiel, the proposed venue for sailing, which garnered 65.6 percent in favor of the Olympic bid.

The outcome leaves four cities vying for the 2024 Games - Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome.

"The result is a bitter pill for us to swallow, but a democratic decision must simply be accepted," saida downbeatNikolas Hill, chief executive of the bid.

"It is obvious that without the majority support of the citizens of Hamburg we cannot win a bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games here. We have always said that the candidacy can only be successful if it is really desired and supported by the citizens."

He added:"The concept was right, but the circumstances we could not influence. We fought.The referendum took place in a situation that was quite extraordinary for both sports and all of society, but we have to live with that, and that’s the way it is."

In a conference call with reporters, Hill suggested that several factors had influenced the voting - the Paris attacks, Russian doping scandal, refugee crisis but most notably the 2006 World Cup bribery scandal that has implicated top football officials including Franz Beckenbauer.It is alleged that the German Football Association (DFB) behind the 2006 World Cup bid set up a slush fund and bought votes to secure hosting rights.

"The debate we had to face in the last weeks was not very supportive. Discussions about the DFB situation and many more topics were critical, and this is probably the result of that," Hill said.

Mayor Olaf Scholz confirmed the end of the 2024 bid at the city's town hall on Sunday night: "Hamburg will not bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I would have liked a different decision, but it is clear and the result is accepted."

For Scholz the rejection is an unexpected blow. The Olympic ambition was the most important project of his administration under plans to accelerate urban development by 2024, which would have usually taken 20 to 30 years to complete.

Additional concerns have prevailed in the Hanseatic city because of unresolved financing. The federal government was reluctant, even in the week leading up to the referendum, to commit to contributing 6.2 billion euros to the Olympic cause.

The IOC said the result did not come as a complete surprise, having followed the discussions in Germany over the last few weeks. But a spokesman made clear the disappointment.

"With this decision a great opportunity for the city, the country and the sport in Germany is lost," he said.

"The city also misses the investment of the IOC of about $1.7 billion to the success of the Games, which compares to the 1.2 billion euros Hamburg wanted to invest. It is understandable that the citizens of Hamburg are very sensitive with regard to the not yet finalized financing plan of the candidature. Even more so in a situation in which Germany has to manage a historic challenge with a high number of refugees coming into the country," he added.

Concerns for future German Olympic bids

Two years ago this month, Munich's 2022 Olympic bid was killed by a 'No' vote in a referendum. Clear opposition against Hamburg's Olympic quest raises concerns about the IOC's Agenda 2020 process designed to deliver flexible and cost-effective bids and future bids for an Olympics in Germany.

Hill claimed the two referendums were two different cases that did not bear comparison. "Nevertheless representatives of the DOSB [German Olympic Sports Confederation] will have to answer... it's not something that will make it easier to go into Olympic bids in the future," he said.

Asked about a possible bid for the 2028 Olympics, DOSB president Alfons Hörmann said: "Obviously, the Olympic spirit and Germany do not fit together at the moment."

As for his message to IOC president Thomas Bach, who has reshaped the 2024 bidding process following a handful of withdrawals in the 2022 race, Hill denied that not enough had been done to help Hamburg's bid.

"I would say he should absolutely walk on this path of Agenda 2020. I am convinced this is the right decision to take 2020 recommendations on and go further," Hill added.

Reported by Mark Bisson and Heinz Peter Kreuzer

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