Berlin withdraws its Olympic bid shortly before the DOSB decision

Berlin withdrew its Olympic bid two days before the decision on the German candidate was made. «Today is a sad day for Berlin. The Olympic and Paralympic Games would have been a huge opportunity for Berlin and for East Germany," said Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) at a press conference. The withdrawal plans had already become known on Wednesday.

The metropolis wanted to use the “Berlin+” concept to apply together with Brandenburg, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044. Before the decision by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Saturday, Berlin was only considered a blatant outsider behind Munich and Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr. The capital had budgeted up to six million euros for the costs of the application by 2027.

DOSB President Thomas Weikert paid tribute to the Berliners for their decision. It is “a great sign of fairness and respect. It underlines that those responsible in the capital are primarily concerned with finally bringing the games back to Germany. Regardless of the venue,” said Weikert.

The Left and the Greens maintain their rejection of the application

The failure has numerous reasons. In the House of Representatives election, the black-red Senate, which had pushed forward the plans, was voted out. Election winner Elif Eralp (Left), who could become the new governing mayor, is an opponent of the Olympics and had already criticized the application process and the costs.

The 45-year-old then said one day after the election that the “decision had been made.” She said that Berliners also voted against the Olympics in the election. The Greens, who are expected to become part of a government, also reject the plans. Both parties argue that Berlin needs the money more urgently elsewhere. Hosting the games costs several billion.

Eralp's statements caused great anger among Olympic supporters. Niroomand accused the politician of “wiping the entire application off the table within 45 seconds, thereby causing enormous uncertainty among the associations and thereby absolutely reducing our chances.”

She also declined an offer to talk. However, the problems with the application did not begin with the politician's statements; they were rather the last point that caused it to collapse. The fact that the DOSB decision was scheduled so soon after the election had already been seen as a disadvantage for Berlin.

Winning the contract for Berlin would have been fraught with risk

The DOSB auditors also gave the Berlin Olympic project a worse report on Tuesday than the competition. Munich's proposal received 87 out of 100 possible points from the DOSB in an evaluation matrix, Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr received 85 - both received the rating "very good". Berlin achieved 74.6 points, which was enough for the grade “good”.

Unlike in Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia, the capital did not hold a referendum. The majority of the House of Representatives voted in favor of an application - but still under the black-red coalition. The House of Representatives election was initially viewed as a proxy referendum. However, the topic played almost no role in the election campaign.

To this end, the Olympic opponents wanted to bring about a referendum against the application in the capital. Among other things, they considered the Senate's forecasts unrealistic that the games would also bring a lot of investment in popular sports and long-term positive economic effects.

All of these points made a contract for Berlin a major risk, even if the city was ahead of its two rivals in terms of international appeal. An extraordinary general meeting of the DOSB will decide on Saturday in Baden-Baden whether Munich or Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr will enter the Olympic race as German applicants.