Referendum No Major Obstacle for Hamburg 2024 Bid

(ATR) Bid leader Bernard Schwank tells Around the Rings he doesn’t expect any repeat of the "no" vote in a referendum that nailed the coffin shut on Munich 2022.

Schwank, who was chief executive of the failed Munich 2018 campaign before the city’s demise in the 2022 bidding race, believes he can help navigate Hamburg 2024 through the referendum along with fellow bid leader Nikolas Hill.

"It was 64 percent at the end of February," Schwank said of the latest public opinion poll in Hamburg on its Olympic ambition. "The enthusiasm is still very, very good, and we will try to maintain it to the end."

Asked if Hamburg would receive the necessary backing in the referendum on the bid planned for November, he said: "We expect that we get it, but you never know.

"You have to work hard for that, to make it clear to people how the bid will be from a financial point of view, from a sustainability point of view. These are the two main issues."

With Munich 2022’s disastrous bid still fresh in the mind, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and Hamburg 2024 are determined to get their messaging to the public right this time.

"In general, we have a big majority in Germany in favor for the Olympic games. Now we have a different situation compared to the Munich," Schwank said, noting the Agenda 2020 discussions with the IOC that are aimed at reducing bidding and staging costs of the Games.

"That was a very good and big step forward. We can argue in a very persuasive way. I think we will have a good chance," said the 54-year-old Schwank, who was last week appointed director of sport and international as well as deputy CEO of the bid committee.

Speaking to ATR at the EOC Extraordinary General Assembly in Belek, Turkey over the weekend, Schwank said the next steps for Hamburg 2024 were to appoint members of the bid committee over the next month or two.

"In parallel, we have to prepare the mini bid book, to deliver by January 8 and we have to work with the people in Hamburg so we will get a big, big majority in the referendum," he added.

Boston, Budapest, Paris and Rome will provide the competition in what will be a tough bidding race.

But Schwank denied that Hamburg 2024 is an underdog.

"If you go in a race in sport, you would like to win. If do not want to win, please stay at home," he said.

"We will concentrate on ourselves. We will deliver a very intelligent and convincing concept with Hamburg and then we will see."

The IOC has set a Sept. 15 deadline for 2024 bid applications from NOCs, with another two years until the vote on the host city at the IOC Session in Lima, Peru.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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