(ATR) Budapest 2024 received the backing of the Hungarian NOC’s general assembly Wednesday.
A spokesman for NOC president Zsolt Borkai described the decision as a "ground-breaking event in the 120-year-old history of the Hungarian Olympic Committee."
Delegates voted to support the country’s quest to bring the Games to Budapest in 2024. It followed the presentation of a feasibility study on the bid conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The assembly also called for the Capital Municipality of Budapest to support the bid and gave the city’s mayor the authority "to submit the joint declaration of intent to bid in partnership with the Hungarian Olympic Committee."
A vote by the municipality slated for June 23 is regarded as a mere formality.
The NOC’s international relations director Zsigmond Nagy tells ATR that the Hungarian Olympic Committee "is very much looking forward to working with the IOC" and discussing how the Budapest bid can benefit from Agenda 2020 reforms.
Last month on the sidelines of the European Olympic Committees general assembly in Belek, Turkey, Nagy told ATR that Budapest would be a strong contender.
"We take it very seriously. This is a serious bid. This is not like, ‘Let’s give it a try,'" he said.
Nagy said the bidding concept was centered around existing and new venues and would be aligned with Agenda 2020 reforms related to sustainability and legacy.
Hungary has staged five unsuccessful bids for the Olympics, the most recent for the 1960 Games which went to Rome.
Under the IOC’s invitation phase for the 2024 Olympics, Hungarian NOC officials traveled to Lausanne in the spring to discuss the bid with IOC officials. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán met IOC president Thomas Bach in April.
Budapest joins Boston, Hamburg, Paris and Rome in the 2024 bidding contest.
The IOC’s application deadline is Sept. 15. The host city vote comes at the 2017 IOC Session in Peru.
Written by Mark Bisson
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