The Olympic Games in 2032 will probably go to Brisbane and not to North Rhine

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These rings will probably not be seen in NRW for the time being

Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Brisbane, Australia, is the IOC's preferred candidate in the race for the 2032 Olympics.

The Executive of the International Olympic Committee accepted the Commission's proposal for future Summer Games on Wednesday, making the Queensland region an early favorite.

This is a bitter damper for the initiative from the Rhine-Ruhr region, which is raising its hopes as a possible German applicant.

Just yesterday, Prime Minister Armin Laschet invited to a press conference on Friday to report on the status of the 2032 application.

Due to the decision of the IOC top, negotiations will now only be conducted with the Australians.

If these go well, Brisbane will be proposed to the IOC General Assembly as the host for 2032.

The so-called "Future Host Summer Commission", which, under the leadership of the Norwegian Kristin Kloster Aasen, deals with the evaluation of future hosts, had examined the suggestions of several cities and regions.

The decision that has now been made, according to IOC President Thomas Bach, is "not a decision against anyone", but for the Australians.

The Rhein-Ruhr Initiative has not yet officially submitted an application.

But North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet saw them on Tuesday still on the right track.

"I expect that we can soon become the Federal Republic's official applicant for the Olympic Games," said the CDU chairman.

There will be no other German candidates.

"We want to host the Games in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2032," Laschet affirmed: "There has been another chance for a German application for a long time."

Leipzig had last applied for the 2012 Games, but was not selected for the five candidate cities.

Planned applications from Munich and Hamburg for the games in 2022 and 2024 were stopped early through public surveys.

The last time there was an Olympic Games in Germany took place in Munich in 1972.

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aha / dpa / sid