(ATR) Despite Hungary's struggle to cope with the migration crisis, Budapest 2024 tells Around the Rings the Olympic bid is "full speed ahead".
A record 5,809 migrants entered Hungary on Sunday, according to reports, piling additional pressure on the government which is already under fire for its treatment of refugees in recent days.
Bid spokesman Zsigmond Nagy told ATR on Monday that with more than 5,000 migrants crossing over the border from Serbia on a daily basis, Hungary was "experiencing a very difficult time" handling the exodus of refugees fleeing Syria, the Middle East and parts of Africa.
"This is a big challenge. We are doing our best to provide services and aid to these people. The bid is crucial and high value. We are going full speed ahead," he said.
As the migration crisis continues to offer up challenges to the Hungarian government, Nagy said the country’s leaders, the municipality and city remained fully behind the bid. Budapest’s 2024 application letter was sent to the IOC in July.
"There is no change in our plans," added Nagy, director of international relations at the Hungarian Olympic Committee.
A two-day bidding workshop took place last week to lay the foundations of the bid, establish a bidding company and to determine some of the next steps in Budapest’s mission to land the 2024 Olympics.
Nagy said the bid was waiting for the IOC to release the 2024 bidding dossier on Sept 16, a day after its official deadline for submission of bids, before prioritizing its goals for the coming weeks.
Paris Submits Bid
Paris sent its application letter to the IOC on Saturday, joining Budapest, Hamburg and Rome in the bid race to secure 2024 Olympic hosting rights. Los Angeles is expected to lodge its application today, ahead of Tuesday’s IOC deadline.
"The Olympic spirit and the city of Paris share a common attachment to unity in diversity, tolerance in the face of differences and the same belief in peace of openness," said Paris 2024’s letter to the IOC.
The application was signed by French NOC president Denis Masseglia and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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