Some 58% of 12,476 people voted in favour of hosting the skiing events of the 2018 Games should Munich win the bid, while 51% opposed a review of the contracts regarding the Games. Opponents of Munich 2018 had claimed that the Games presented an environmental hazard for the valley, but the referendum has quashed any fears of the bid being derailed.
“The result of today's poll confirmed the majority of the population is really in favour of staging Olympic and Paralympic winter events here in Bavaria,” bid CEO Bernhard Schwank told Reuters. “With this decision today we are very happy and we can look ahead...to July 6. We are very positive that we are in the race with our two competitors and have a great chance to win.”
Local opponents of the Munich 2018 bid had gathered 2,500 signatures to force the vote and 59% of the electorate turned up for the referendum.
Munich, which is hoping to become the first city to stage the Summer and Winter Olympics, is up against PyeongChang in South Korea and Annecy in France. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will select the winning bid on July 6 during its session in Durban, South Africa.
The IOC’s Evaluation Commission will release its report on the three candidate cities on May 10 and Munich, PyeongChang and Annecy will make their technical presentations to the IOC in Lausanne on May 18.
