Munich 2018 Games opponents launch petition campaign

Feb 22, 2011, 17:55 GMT

Munich - Opponents of Munich's bid to host the winter Olympics began collecting signatures for a petition to force a referendum in the planned venue for Alpine skiing.

The petition comes shortly before an evaluation commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due in Munich to inspect venues planned for the Games.

Opponents of Munich's bid want to force the Garmisch-Partenkirchen municipal authority to re-examine the legality of contracts already signed.

They need to collect some 1,700 signatures to force a referendum on the issue. A vote would have to be held within three months.

Dozens of farmers and land owners in Garmisch-Partenkirchen had already been refusing to give up their land for alpine skiing events.

'Olympic Games are too big for Garmisch-Partenkirchen,' said Alex Doering, an environmental activist who is one of the initiators of the campaign.

'Although the bid is called Munich 2018 it will be Garmsisch-Partenkirchen that will bear the main burden of the 2018 winter Olympic Games if the bid is won.'

Alpine skiing, ski-jumping, snowboarding and ski cross events are planned for Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Biathlon and cross-country skiing would be held just to the north of the venue.

Doering said more than 50 events were planned at the so-called snow cluster, 'almost five times as much' as at the just-ended alpine ski world championships at the venue.

The campaign comes at a sensitive time for the Munich bid with the IOC evaluation committee due next week. The IOC team has already visited Munich's rival bidders for the 2018 Games, Annecy, France and Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The Munich 2018 bid organizers said despite the opposition most people in Garmisch-Partenkirchen supported the Games.

'We are convinced that the overwhelming majority of the population is behind the bid and opinion polls corroborate this,' a statement said.

'Our latest regional polls indicated that almost two thirds of people in Garmisch-Partenkirchen are in favour of hosting the 2018 Winter Games.'

The bid team said referendums were 'an important political instrument in any open and sophisticated democracy like Germany' and added: 'There was a referendum organized during the IOC evaluation commission's visit to Vancouver and they went on to stage a memorable Winter Games with the full backing of millions of passionate fans.'

The IOC will elect the 2018 host on July 6 in Durban.

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