Budapest sends 2024 Olympic bid to Lausanne – UPDATE

Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – Budapest and the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) have sent their bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024 to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.

Hungary’s parliament voted on Monday to support the Hungarian capital’s bid to host the 2024 event.

Budapest’s Municipal Council voted to support the bid at the end of June.

Until a few months ago, Tarlos said it was “unrealistic” to raise the idea of Budapest hosting the 2024 Olympics. Last September, then-opposition mayoral candidate, Ferenc Falus, asked Tarlos whether he thought Budapest hosting the games was a realistic prospect, to which the mayor replied that Falus did not understand the city’s problems.

In February, the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) proposed that the government and Budapest’s municipal council should consider bidding for the 2024 games.

In May, Mayor Tarlos said he “whole-heartedly” supported Hungary’s aspirations to host the event, arguing that it would “benefit the country in all respects”. Later that month, Secretary General of MOB Bence Szabo said “several people” at the congress of the European Olympic Committee “were interested in a possible Budapest Olympics and everyone thought that the Hungarian capital would be a great host.”

A June report on the feasibility study pertaining to the Budapest bid said “hosting the Olympics in Budapest is a feasible and worthwhile undertaking”, adding that the Hungarian bid is a viable contender for the 2024 games.

Political responses to parliament’s decision to support the bid were mixed.