Hamburg Votes Against Hosting 2024 Olympics: Latest Comments and Reaction

The 2024 Summer Olympics location is down to four cities after a majority of residents in Hamburg, Germany, voted Sunday against hosting the games. 

According to a report from the BBC, 51.7 percent of Hamburg and Kiel residents "voted no in a referendum" to have a chance at hosting the Olympics in nine years.

Per the BBC, criticism stemmed from a plan that would have cost approximately €11.2 billion, with city authorities having only promised to cover "a small fraction" of the expenditure. 

According to Ciaran Fahey of the Associated Press, additional reasons for citizen opposition seemed to include "the refugee crisis; the Paris attacks; a football friendly involving Germany canceled due to a terror scare; scandals at the German football federation and FIFA; and the recent Russian doping scandal."   

"That's a decision that we didn't want, but it's clear," Hamburg mayor Olaf Scholz said in the BBC report. 

Per David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times, Hamburg bid leader Nikolas Hill said the referendum voting results were "bitter for us" and that "without the majority support of the citizens of Hamburg in 2024 we will not bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to our city."

With Hamburg out of the running for the 2024 Olympics, the final four cities left in the mix include Rome; Paris; Budapest, Hungary; and Los Angeles. 

The International Olympic Committee will decide between those potential venues in September 2017.