Olympics: Germany picks Munich for Summer Games bid

What the report says

Munich has been chosen as Germany’s candidate city for a future Summer Olympics bid, according to Al Jazeera, after the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) voted in favor of the Bavarian city over the Cologne/Rhine-Ruhr region. The decision was announced on Saturday in Baden-Baden and leaves Munich as Germany’s bid entry for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Games.

The German bid process had originally included four contenders, but the field narrowed after Berlin withdrew on Thursday and Hamburg stepped aside in May. Munich’s proposal is centered on the Olympic Park, the venue built for the 1972 Games and later renovated. Bavarian state premier Markus Söder said the aim is to present a united national bid, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz congratulated Munich and said Germany is ready to pursue the Olympics.

A late-2025 referendum in Munich gave the bid a clear public mandate, with 66.4 percent of voters supporting the plan on 44 percent turnout. That outcome contrasted with earlier failed Olympic votes in Germany, including previous efforts linked to Munich and Hamburg.

The DOSB is expected to begin further talks with the International Olympic Committee ahead of a shortlist in March 2027. The IOC is due to name preferred hosts in late 2028 and make a final selection in mid-2029. Germany has not hosted a Summer Games since Munich in 1972 and has now made seven unsuccessful bids since then, a reminder of both the country’s long Olympic ambition and the sensitivity surrounding its past hostings.