Budapest City Council unanimously approved a draft of a bill to prepare the way for Hungary to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, according to local press reports.
The Budapest Business Journal reports that the city council supported the idea of compiling an impact study about the potential Olympic sites, and initiating a law on bidding for the Olympics. The bill has been submitted to Parliament, which is then expected to reach a decision in 2009.
The parties will sign a joint document on the intention to host the Olympics, and send it to the president and prime minister and it would then be up to Parliament to decide whether the city will present an Olympic bid.
Pal Schmitt, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee and member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told the national daily Nepszabadsag that he supported the idea, saying that preparations would involve the construction of several sports facilities in Budapest.
