Budapest to withdraw 2024 Olympic bid

Photo: Moyan Brenn/Flickr.com

According to Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos, the city might just quit its bid to host the 2024 Olympics after a petition garnered nearly 250,000 in opposition to the bid.

The petition was filed by the Momentum movement, a group formed by young professionals and college students aimed to create an opposition before the end of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2018.

The decision was made through a meeting with Tarlos, Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Chairman of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, and announced the decision on Wednesday.

The petition demands a local referendum to decide on the matter and authorities find this as a lack of political and national unity, thus deciding to entirely withdraw from the bid.

According to pollster Median, 56% of Hungarians agree to withdraw the bid in the aftermath of the petition.

The International Olympic Committee said in response that it will wait for the official notification from the National Olympic Committee of Hungary. This leaves only two more bidders: Paris and Los Angeles, as Boston, Hamburg and Rome already pulled out.
This has been the first act of opposition sighted and recognized since Orban entered office in 2010.