Vienna public vote against Olympic Games bid

Vienna: Over 70 percent of the Viennese population has voted against a potential 2028 Summer Olympic Games bid, the high cost of the event thought to be the main deterrent.

Vienna Mayor Michael Hauepl said the public showed that they had a different view of the potential benefits of hosting the event as he did, reports Xinhua. "Too bad, but that`s how it is," said Hauepl Tuesday He said the possibility the city would bid on Summer or Winter Olympic Games was now over. The clear "no" vote is expected to have been due to the cost of more than 10 billion euros needed for various new sporting facilities, though numerous sporting associations including the Austrian Olympic Committee (OeOC) along with several Austrian politicians have called for investment to go ahead despite the outcome of the vote. "We would still welcome the city of Vienna to invest in sporting infrastructure, to give our top athletes optimal training facilities and to continue to bring major sporting events here, even if not of the scale of the Olympics," said OeOC President Karl Stoss. IANS