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Munich says no to winter Olympic bid

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Munich says no to winter Olympic bid
German Olympic Sports Confederation head Michael Vesper waits for results with Munich mayor Christian Ude. Photo: DPA

Munich's bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2022 has failed after its citizens voted no in a referendum on Sunday. Politicians and sporting officials are searching for reasons behind the result.

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“I think it's to do with a general scepticism towards large sporting events,” said Michael Vesper, general director of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DSB), after 52.1 percent of voters ticked “no” on the ballot.

The city is not allowed to go ahead with the application in the face of  the negative response from its residents. “No, there is no loophole, this was the people's choice,” said Vesper.

The Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Traunstein and Berchtesgaden areas of Bavaria where the games would have been held, also rejected the idea.

“This is no longer about the application, but more of a general, sudden criticism,” said Munich's mayor Christian Ude.

Ludwig Hartmann, head of the state's Green party parliamentary faction, echoed Ude's thoughts. “I think that Olympic bids are off the table for the whole of Germany," he said.

Germany has not hosted either of the Games since 1972, when the summer Olympics took place in Munich.

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