Sports Senator Iris Spranger spoke of the most terrible morning at the end of the capital's Olympic dreams. Olympic representative Kaweh Niroomand fought back tears as Governing Mayor Kai Wegner made the withdrawal of Berlin's bid official next to him. "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 Wegner (CDU) at a press conference in the Red Town Hall.
Those responsible are withdrawing two days before the decision on the German candidate. After the developments of the last few days, they no longer had any chances. It is a serious defeat for those involved.
“Berlin doesn’t deserve to be washed up there”
"We couldn't offer them what the associations asked of us - namely political stability. We didn't want to leave the round in Baden-Baden with a single-digit number of votes," said Niroomand. "Berlin doesn't deserve to be dumped there. We want to avoid this embarrassment."
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. Munich and Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr remain as applicants.
DOSB President Thomas Weikert paid tribute to the Berliners for their decision. It is “a great sign of fairness and respect”. Mayor Wegner said that after the withdrawal two days before the decision, no election recommendation would be made for Munich or the rival from Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr.
However, the CDU politician expressed his sympathy for the model from North Rhine-Westphalia, which includes the east with Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. “These are not the games of one federal state,” said Wegner. It remains unclear whether the Berlin supporters among the leading associations will follow this idea when voting.
Eralp stands by her rejection of the application
The Berlin planners mainly blamed election winner Elif Eralp (Left) for the failure of the application. In the House of Representatives election, the black-red Senate was voted out. Eralp, who could become the new governing mayor, is an opponent of the Olympics and had already criticized the application process and the costs.
A day after the election, she said that the “decision had been made.” She said that Berliners also voted against the Olympics in the election. The politician initially rejected an offer to talk, said Niroomand, but when it came to it, she wasn't convinced.
"I never asked her to change her position. When I spoke up, I wished that she had held back out of respect for the work and the vote on Saturday," the 73-year-old said angrily. This is what top candidate Werner Graf from the Greens, who also reject the application for games in Berlin, did.
Lack of citizen vote as a sticking point
In any case, it wasn't the Berlin concept. Wegner, Spranger and Niroomand agreed on this. “When the IOC decides, the most important player is not at the table,” Niroomand quoted from the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. The international appeal was Berlin's trump card, but in the end it wasn't enough.
However, the problems with the application did not begin with Eralp's statements; they were rather the last point that brought it down. The fact that the DOSB decision was scheduled so soon after the election had already been seen as a disadvantage for Berlin. Criticism between the lines from Berlin was also heard again and again about the exact criteria and their definition.
In fact, the capital did worse than the competition in one point in particular in the DOSB auditors, but it was essential: the lack of a referendum. To achieve this, the city's constitution would have had to be changed. But the Greens made it clear that “they are not available for referendums from above to change the constitution,” said Wegner.
Application cost millions
This made it more difficult for the capital to prove how the Berlin population felt about the application than the competition. Surveys recently showed majority support. Many representatives of the city society supported the project. On the other hand, there were opponents of NOlympia who wanted to bring about a referendum against the application. Ultimately, it was significant that the issue hardly played a role in the election campaign in the capital.
“I would have liked to have discussed this topic even more in the election campaign, I want to admit that openly. But I don’t think it was the decisive question at the end of the day,” said Wegner. Six million were available for applications. “One million is in the sports administration for the development of the concept,” explained Niroomand. Five million came from the Interior Senator's budget. “And of these five million we will give back almost a million.”
Despite retreating to Baden-Baden
However, the voters were probably aware of the pros and cons of an application. Proponents saw investments in the future, important income for the economy and a boost to their image. Critics feared billions in spending that would be more urgently needed elsewhere.
Wegner announced that the delegation would still travel to Baden-Baden, where the DOSB general meeting will vote on Saturday. "Berlin will continue to participate. We want the games to come to Germany," said the CDU politician.
