Dark outlook for the German candidacy for the Summer Games in 2032: it is turning into a political debate. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is demanding that the referendum on the Olympic project in North Rhine-Westphalia not only be organized in the cities affected by the system, but extended to the entire Land. “ A candidacy for the Games can only be accepted if it meets with broad support from the population of our Land, supports Thomas Kutschte, the leader of the SPD in the German state. This is why such a consultation should not be an elitist event, where other cities would only be allowed to observe the debate from the outside.. » Not surprisingly, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), currently in power in North Rhine-Westphalia, thinks the opposite. “ What would be the point of asking the population of a city where nothing would happen during the Games for their opinion?, asks Jens Nettekoven, spokesperson for the CDU parliamentary group on sports. It is logical to ask the question of the appropriateness of a candidacy in the cities concerned, but not elsewhere. » The Rhine-Rhur bidders for the Summer Games in 2032 plan to consult the population in the 14 cities involved in the project, including Bonn, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach.
