Poznan Pulls Out Youth Olympic Race
Pozna?, one of the favourites to host the 2018 Youth Olympics, has dropped out of the race to stage the Games due to a lack of financial guarantees. The Polish city was bidding for the competition for the second time in succession, having narrowly lost out to Nanjing for the 2014 edition.
However, the City Council failed to provide the financial guarantees of around £16 million, needed to organise the Youth Olympic Games, with 27 councillors voting against allocating the budget with only four in favour.
Despite Pozna?’s withdrawal, the bid race remains the most competitive in the short history of the Youth Olympic Games with Buenos Aires, Medellín, Glasgow, Guadalajara and Rotterdam all still involved.
Mayor of Pozna? Ryszard Grobelny, said: ‘It is a great shame that the City Council did not agree to the funding guarantees for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.’
‘I’m convinced that the city of Pozna? would have been a great host for the event and could have organised a great Games. We deeply regret that this event will not take place in our city in 2018.’
The withdrawal comes just days before the candidates for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games are due to hand in their bid books to the International Olympic Committee at its headquarters in Lausanne on Monday, 15th October.
Pozna? impressed as one of the host cities in the 2012 UEFA European Championship when Poland and Ukraine jointly hosted the event this year.
