Hungary to withdraw 2024 summer Olympic bid: government spokesman

BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary will withdraw its bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told Reuters on Wednesday, after a meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos and the Hungarian Olympic committee.

Bidding alongside powerhouses Los Angeles and Paris, Budapest had been considered a long-shot candidate, pinning its hopes on the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020 initiative.

After local opponents of the candidacy last week submitted a quarter of a million signatures on a petition for a referendum on the bid, Tarlos had suggested the city might quit the race.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Hugh Lawson)