(ATR) The Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) says it will "continue to do everything in its power" to keep the Budapest 2024 bid alive despite mounting opposition.
Budapest’s bid is on its last leg after citizens collected over 265,000 signatures to force a referendum on the bid. The number of signatures collected was nearly double the amount required by the government. After the collections were complete bid leader Balázs Fürjestold Around the Rings unity around the bid has been "dismissed," putting the entire project in doubt.
Fürjesmet with Budapest City Hall today and is participating in a debate in an attempt at public outreach to counter the referendum.
Zsolt Borkai, President of the Hungarian NOC, said in a statement that hosting the 2024 Games is an issue of "national importance...that needs to be independent of politics."
The referendum challenge began with citizens working to get grassroots opposition to the bid. The goal of the referendum was to take some Olympic decision-making away from politicians, a continuing trend in cities bidding for the Olympics. Local reports say that the group "Momentum" formed through the referendum push could morph into a more concrete political opposition to Hungary's ruling Fidez party.
Borkai stressed that the MOB worked with all of Hungary’s political parties to reach consensus support before the Olympic bid. He said it would be "incomprehensible" to pull the bid after consensus had been reached among all stakeholders in charge of the bid including opposition parties in the government.
"The [MOB], as the Hungarian partner of IOC and as the public body representing the bid’s sporting side, will in the future continue to do everything in its power to further assist Hungary’s opportunity to host the Olympic Games as soon as possible," Borkai said in the statement. "Opposition politicians had voiced support for organising the Olympic Games, and, independently of party politics, formed a sportsmanlike team for this common cause."
Borkai said that confusion regarding the opposition to the Budapest bid has gone all the way to IOC President Thomas Bach, who believes "national success has been sacrificed for political gain" in Hungary. Borkai described the chance of Budapest securing the 2024 Games even if it survives the opposition as "minimal" but the losers of the entire affair are Hungarian athletes.
"I am proud that Budapest has been referred to in recent months as a genuine contender," Borkai said. "The dreams of many athletes, Hungarians and children are now under serious threat, even though this country and this nation deserve this 120-year-old dream to one day become reality."
Written by Aaron Bauer
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