More than two thirds of those who voted - 69.72 per cent - were against the Polish city's bid for the Games.

Turnout was above the 30 per cent threshold for the vote to be valid, at 35.96 per cent.

Exit polling last night suggested 67.6 per cent of people had voted "no".

The referendum was held on the same day as the content-wide European elections.

Polish Olympic Committee officials are planning to meet with bidding partners from Slovakia - where it was proposed Alpine skiing events would be held - on Friday (May 30) to "consult with them and determine the next steps", International Olympic Committee director of communications, Mark Adams, told insidethegames.

Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski, who called the referendum in March, blamed the result on the Bid Committee in its previous guise, which he said had "squandered trust".

"[The] time we had to rebuild was too short," he wrote in a post on his Facebook page.

Bid Committee President Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak resigned last month because of a "smear campaign" over allegations her husband offered to pay journalists to write positive stories about the bid.

She was replaced by Magdalena Sroka, the city's Deputy Mayor.

Six of the eight Board members were also replaced.

Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski has blamed the former Bid Committee squandering trust for the overwhelming anti-bid referendum result ©Getty Images



"Today, given the results of the referendum, we will inform our partners," wrote Majchrowski.

"When we started the effort to welcome the Olympics, we got a solid support, expressed in particular in the polls.

"[But in] the face of declining popular support, we had to go to the inhabitants of Kraków.

"I, in fact, [am] fully aware that there [cannot] be implementation of such a project without public acceptance.

"Kraków has shown that it truly democratic: the highest participation in the country for the European elections and a referendum for local high turnout."

He added: "I regret the decision.

"This project was extremely important for the development of the entire region."

A worker at the offices of the bid told insidethegames it was a "crazy situation" there this morning following the referendum result

Exit polling correctly predicted the resounding "no" vote ©Bloomberg via Getty Images



The city was one of five bidding to stage the 2022 Games.

In September, Oslo's bid referendum was narrowly won, with 55.1 per cent supporting it.

But Norway's Government is not expected to announce whether it is backing the bid until the autumn, after the IOC announces its shortlist of candidates.

With Lviv's bid disrupted by the ongoing political unrest in Ukraine, only Almaty in Kazakhstan and the Chinese capital Beijing are seen as likely candidates for the next phase of the process.

Ukrainian confectionery tycoon Petro Poroshenko has claimed victory in the country's Presidential election, held last night, and is expected to be key in the decision on whether Lviv presses on with its bid.

The IOC Executive Board meet in Lausanne on July 8 and 9, where it will announce an unknown number of candidate cities.

Visits to the cities will then be carried out by the IOC Evaluation Commission, before a final decision is made at the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31 2015.

IOC director of communications Adams told insidethegames: "We are obviously aware of the vote in Kraków and we did not receive yet confirmation from the Polish Olympic Committee about their proposed course of action.

"Nevertheless they informed us that they regret very much the outcome since the bid was about developing Polish sport and supporting Polish athletes - and they understood that the IOC would have made a significant contribution towards this."

No one from Kraków 2022 is currently available for comment.