Senate decides: City wants to be part of Olympic project
Hamburg would like to participate in a possible German bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the next decade - should there be a majority of the population in favor, unlike in 2015. The Hamburg Senate decided on Tuesday that Germany's second-largest city will sign a so-called "Memorandum of Understanding" with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the federal government. This memorandum sets out how a bid process will be reviewed and a possible hosting concept drawn up.
"If Hamburg is selected as a venue as part of a German bid, this would be a new offer to our city that the people of Hamburg can decide on in a new vote," said Andy Grote (SPD), Senator for the Interior and Sports, to the German Press Agency. Such a vote is to take place in 2025 and could be held in Hamburg at the same time as the Bundestag elections, according to the Interior Ministry.
A bid by the Hanseatic city for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games failed in 2015 due to the vote of the Hamburg population. The same applied two years earlier to a Munich bid for the 2022 Winter Games.
As the umbrella organization of German sport, the DOSB has drawn the consequences from this and added new priorities to its 2022 Olympic strategy. Potential Olympic Games in Germany will no longer be held in one city or region, but at several locations. And instead of expensive new stadiums, only sports facilities that already exist or only need to be built temporarily will be used.
In addition to Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region are also considered possible venues for a German Olympic bid. The DOSB's priority is a bid for the 2036 or 2040 Summer Games.
Hamburg will potentially collaborate with DOSB and the federal government, signing a "Memorandum of Understanding" for a potential German Olympic bid, as stated by the Hamburg Senate. If selected, the German Olympic and Paralympic Games venue could shift from being solely in Olympia to including other cities like Olympia's sister city, Olympia in Hamburg, due to DOSB's revised 2022 Olympic strategy.
Source: www.dpa.com
