2023-11-14 21:07:06
While Germany is considering an Olympic and Paralympic candidacy and although the calendar remains to be defined, the Berlin Senate this week approved a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at promoting the establishment of a project for the Summer Games of 2036 or 2040.
Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner and Senator for the Interior, Digitalization and Sports Iris Spranger sign Memorandum of Understanding with DOSB for a bid for the 2036 Summer Games or 2040, Tuesday November 14, 2023 (Credits – Senatskanzlei Berlin)
After the disappointments of Berlin 2000, Leipzig 2012, Munich 2018 and 2020, then Hamburg 2024 – the latter having won the national selection in March 2015 in front of the federal capital – the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) launched during the summer a vast initiative aimed at determining the conditions for a new application, involving public authorities, associations, businesses and citizens.
Around the new concept “Your ideas, your games” – in other words “Your Ideas, Your Games” – the DOSB thus wished to initiate a redesigned methodology in order to build a project sufficiently solid to convince, on the one hand, German public opinion and, on the other hand, the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Whether on the Internet, via social networks or on a dedicated site, or within the framework of participatory forums, the initiative has already made it possible to create a dialogue with the possible stakeholders in a candidacy which, unlike previous attempts, would not be limited to a city and its periphery.
Also, while discussions will continue behind the screens and on the ground until the end of the month, the Berlin Senate has expressed its interest in contributing to the installation of a German candidacy for the organization of the 2036 or 2040 Summer Games.
Already mentioned last spring, the commitment of the local authority was formally materialized througha Memorandum of Understanding signed this Tuesday, November 14, 2023 with the DOSB.
With this document, the Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner (Christian Democratic Party, CDU), and the Senator in charge of the Interior, Digitalization and Sports, Iris Spranger (Social Democratic Party, SPD), display their support for a major opportunity for the federal capital which would rely in fine on existing sports infrastructures or temporary arrangements.
This step forward constitutes a decisive step for Berlin and, perhaps also, for the DOSB, following several years of procrastination.
The German Olympic body – which also discusses with other cities, including those which have in the past supported the country’s Olympic and Paralympic ambitions – however remains in control of the clocks in its capacity as a leading interlocutor with the IOC.
Also, the decision to submit an application might be made official during the General Assembly of the body expected on December 2.
From this date, the DOSB might act on the development of a master plan in consultation with several cities by the summer of 2024, before refining a project by the end of 2025, knowing that the IOC should give itself time before deciding on the choice of the Future Host of the 2036 Olympic Games, especially considering the fact that the 2028 and 2032 editions were awarded 11 years in advance, respectively to Los Angeles ( California, United States) in 2017 and in Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) in 2021.
Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Berlin Senate and the DOSB for a bid for the 2036 or 2040 Summer Games, Tuesday November 14, 2023 (Credits – Senatskanzlei Berlin)
In recent months, the Mayor of Berlin has in any case increased his interventions regarding the involvement of his city in the process of setting up a candidacy for the Games.
Despite criticism relating to the appropriateness of a project targeting the 2036 deadline – just 100 years following the 1936 Berlin Games, historically marked by Nazi propaganda – the city councilor had notably put forward the argument sites already operational.
As Kai Wegner explained last September:
The sports infrastructure in Berlin is very good, 70% of Olympic competitions might take place right now.
Berlin would benefit greatly, in terms of extension of facilities or construction of housing.
Over the past weekend, the Mayor of the federal capital reiterated his enthusiasm regarding the participation of his city in a future project designed in cooperation with other Communities.
As he notably stated during a DOSB forum bringing together no less than 600 participants this Sunday in Berlin:
We strongly support the idea and find the national candidacy project brilliant.
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