Hamburg bid for 2024 Olympics and Paralympics backed by 63 per cent of residents, poll reveals

A recent poll shows 63 per cent of residents are backing Hamburg's bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games ©Getty Images

Hamburg’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games has received a boost after a poll revealed 63 per cent of local residents support their attempt at securing the right to host the event in nine years’ time.

The results of the survey, conducted by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), come ahead of a referendum on the city’s bid, due to take place in Hamburg and fellow northern city Kiel, which would host sailing, on November 29.

It follows a recent poll which showed nearly half of respondents feel Hamburg’s chances of winning the race are remote, with 32 per cent remaining confident of the German city prevailing.

The cost of hosting the Games was highlighted as the main reason for opposing holding the Olympics, with 60 per cent agreeing that they would be too expensive and 65 per cent saying it would be "a waste of money".

The same poll showed 58 per cent were in favour of Hamburg’s bid, with just 20 per cent against.

Despite concerns over the financial side of staging the event, DOSB President Alfons Hoermann claims they have no fears over the upcoming referendum, insisting they will remain transparent throughout the bid process.

A budget of around $2.3 billion (£1.5 million/€2.1 billion) was estimated for venue development but bid chiefs have yet to reveal a total project cost of bringing the Olympics and Paralympics to Germany for the first time since Munich hosted the event in 1972.

DOSB President Alfons Hoermann says he is "confident" the bid will be supported at the upcoming referendum ©Getty Images

“We are very confident with regard to the referendum,” said Hoermann.

“On the one hand we are very transparent and tell the people all about the costs of possible Olympic Games.

“On the other hand we remind them of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany or the 1972 Games in Munich, which had a very positive effect on the development of the region around Munich and sport in general in Germany.”

The Bid Committee will be hoping they can keep approval rates as high as they have been in order to avoid a repeat of Munich’s failed bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, eventually awarded to Beijing, which was scrapped after a public referendum voted comprehensively against the idea.

The poll’s results come after a similar survey was conducted in Hungary, which showed 46 per cent of residents were in favour of Budapest’s bid.

Los Angeles, Paris and Rome are the other three contenders in the race and a host city will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee at its Session in the Peruvian capital Lima in 2017.