Hamburg ahead of Berlin in race to host 2024 Olympic Games

The Executive Board of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has given preference to Hamburg over Berlin as the candidate city to host the 2024 Olympic Games, reports Hina, as carried by the Patria news agency. 
 
The DOSB Executive Board made this decision after a day-long discussion in which an important role was played by data showing that surveys indicated residents of Hamburg are more inclined to host the world's largest sporting event than residents of the German capital. According to last week's data, support for the Olympics stands at 64 percent among Hamburg residents and 55 percent among Berlin residents.
 
"Hamburg has offered a fascinating and compact concept that would be excellent for the long-term development of the city," said DOSB President Alfons Hoermann.
 
The final decision on which German city will enter the race to host the 2024 Olympics will be made by the DOSB assembly on Saturday.
 
Whichever city is chosen as the candidate will have to hold a referendum by September this year, in which residents will decide whether they want to join the race to secure the Olympics.
 
Germany has hosted the Summer Olympics twice so far, in 1936 in Berlin and in 1972 in Munich.
 
So far, official candidacies for hosting the 2024 Olympics have been put forward by Boston and Rome, while other possible candidates include Paris, Doha, Istanbul, and Baku.
 
The deadline for submitting candidacies is September 15, and the host of the 2024 Olympics will be determined in September 2017 at the IOC congress in Lima.