Hungarian Parliament in Budapest (Photo: hunszabi – Indafoto)
By a vote of 151 to 33, the Hungarian government approved Monday a bid by Budapest for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Zsolt Borkai, head of Hungary’s Olympic Committee (MOB) said, “today’s vote has an important message: sport brings people together and it is worth dealing with the idea or organizing the Olympic Games”.
MOB and Budapest’s city council already approved a Budapest bid last month.
Hungary has never hosted an Olympics but has applied several times – the last time in 1960.
According to a study prepared for the MOB, hosting the Olympics could generate 1,100 billion forints (3.5 billion euros, $4.1 billion) in revenues, well above the 774 billion forints in required investments.
Cities have until September 15 to enter bids for the 2024 Games and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide on a host city at a congress in Lima, Peru on September 15, 2017.
Other cities bidding for the 2024 Games include Boston, Paris and Rome.
