Residents of Hamburg, Germany, voted against holding the 2024 Olympic Games in their home city in a referendum held聽last Sunday, . The results of the citywide poll reflected 48.4 percent聽in favor of hosting the Olympics聽and 51.6 percent against the bid. Four potential host cities now remain: Los Angeles, California;聽Rome, Italy;聽Paris, France; and Budapest, Hungary.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why referendums are held鈥攖o find out what the population wants, and obviously Hamburgers don鈥檛 want the Olympics,鈥澛燙hristiane Wirtz, a spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told the AP.
Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz said he was unhappy with the results of the vote, which some critics attributed to an聽$11.9 billion budget. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a decision that we didn鈥檛 want,鈥 , 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 clear.鈥
As 国产吃瓜黑料聽reported last July, budgetary concerns played a similar role in selecting Los Angeles, which became a candidate city shortly after聽Boston withdrew from the running. At the time, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he decided against the plan because he was under too much pressure to sign an agreement with the International Olympic Committee聽before being sure that the city would not be responsible for cost overruns.