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BERLIN \u2014 Berlin\u2019s state parliament has given the go-ahead for the city\u2019s bid to rehost the Olympic Games on or after the 100th anniversary of the 1936 Games staged by the Nazis.
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\u201cOur bid is a genuine promise for future generations,\u201d Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said during the 90-minute debate that preceded the vote Thursday. \u201cWe want positive development for Berlin.\u201d
Wegner\u2019s CDU political party received support from rival SPD members and the far-right AfD for the Berlin Olympic and Paralympic plans that he first presented in May last year in the same stadium where Jesse Owens defied Adolf Hitler in the 1936 Games.
Berlin\u2019s state government approved the concept this month for a bid that relies mostly on existing sports facilities and envisages using city landmarks such as the city park at the former airport Tempelhof.
It estimated the cost at 4.82 billion euros ($5.6 billion), with revenue of 5.24 billion euros projected, giving a net profit of around 420 million euros, with a quarter of that going to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
\u201cIf we put on a summer fairy tale for the world, then it\u2019s a chance for the world,\u201d Wegner said.
The plans were opposed by politicians from the Left party and Greens who referred to the financial risks of hosting the Olympics and criticized what they called \u201cempty promises\u201d and \u201ccastles in the air,\u201d news agency DPA reported.
Tobias Schulze of the Left Party said the last three Olympic Games were more than twice as expensive as initially planned, and he pointed out that many of the proposed venues need renovation.
The bid organizers decided not to hold a referendum in contrast to organizers of three other bids from Germany.
Bids from Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia were approved in referendums, while vote-eligible people in Hamburg will have their say on that city\u2019s proposed bid on May 31.
If Hamburg\u2019s bid survives, one of the four will be selected by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) on Sep. 26 for submission to the IOC.
\u201cOn behalf of the entire German sporting community, I congratulate Berlin on this decision, which was supported by a large majority,\u201d DOSB president Thomas Weikert said.
\u201cThe bid has already garnered significant attention and sparked new enthusiasm for sport in the capital.\u201d
However, many Berliners are against the idea of staging the Olympics at all, regardless of them potentially taking place on the 100th anniversary of the Games already hosted by the Nazis. An initiative called \u201c NOlympia Berlin \u201c is collecting signatures in an effort to force a referendum.
Germany wants to host the Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
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