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Germany fight on to beat Brisbane in 2032

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Rhine-Ruhr bid chief Armin Laschet says it will fight on to try to beat Brisbane for the 2032 Games.
Camera IconRhine-Ruhr bid chief Armin Laschet says it will fight on to try to beat Brisbane for the 2032 Games.

The Rhine-Ruhr region will to continue its bid to host the 2032 Olympic Games ahead of favourites Brisbane, Armin Laschet, premier of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, says.

After consulting with the mayors of the cities involved, Laschet announced on Friday: "We will continue to fight. The support of the cities is still there."

On Wednesday, the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared Brisbane as the preferred candidate to host the summer Games in 11 years time.

This means that the German Rhine-Ruhr initiative has hardly any chance left - but Laschet has reacted with incomprehension to the IOC decision.

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"There is no question that the IOC decision on Wednesday surprised us and also hit us. I was told that, for the IOC, Brisbane is a good candidate in uncertain times. I don't share this view," said Laschet, who also criticised the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

He said the DOSB didn't see itself as being in a position to enter the conversations with the IOC. "The amazing thing is that there is no sense of what is going on at the IOC," he said.

The Game AFL 2024

Should the bid for 2032 fail, as expected, then the Rhine-Ruhr region would also consider a bid for the Games in 2036.

"We would prepare for Games in the '30s that could be 2032, that could also be 2036," Laschet said.

Staging the games in Germany in 2036, exactly 100 years after the event was hosted in Berlin under the Nazi regime, is not seen as an obstacle by Laschet.

"The world is a different one 100 years later than it was at the 1936 Games," he said.

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