(ATR) Budapest has cleared another hurdle in its ambitions to host the 2024 Olympics.
The city council on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to support the bid. A total of 25 councilors voted to back the quest to bring the Games to Budapest; only one voted against.
The Hungarian government and parliament must also approve the project before the official submission is made to the IOC by Sept. 15.
Ahead of the vote, Hungarian Olympic Committee chief Zsolt Borkai had underlined the benefits of staging the Olympics in a speech to the council.
He reportedly told representatives that holding the Olympics was more achievable under the IOC’s Agenda 2020 reforms, saying they signaled an end to the era of expensively-staged Games and opened the door for provincial cities to play a bigger role.
"Hungary has now matured strong to bid for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad," said Borkai, "but in order to be able to continue on this road, the support from Budapest is needed."
Borkai also said the Games would accelerate the development of the Hungarian capital.
A nationwide program of consultations is currently under way tounderscore the benefits of staging the Olympics for Budapest and the country as a whole, to win public support.
Budapest mayor István Tarlós revealed that he had been skeptical about the bid but was persuaded to get behind it after hearing about the IOC’s Agenda 2020 program, which calls for flexibility and creativity in the bid plan and lower investment in venues and infrastructure.
"There are moments when a nation must shower her ability to unite," saidTarlós.
"We should be cautiously optimistic as no one has been granted with the right to the Games, but we do stand a great chance if we unite."
Boston, Hamburg, Paris and Rome are the other bids in the 2024 race.
The IOC host city vote is slated for the Session in Lima, Peru in 2017.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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