Farmers threaten Germany Olympics bid
Berlin: Farmers in Bavaria have launched a fresh attempt to stop their land being used for the 2018 Winter Olympics, potentially jeopardising Munich's bid to host the games, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
Fifty-nine farmers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Munich's proposed co-host for the Games, have written a joint letter to the Bavarian state government calling for the bid to be withdrawn, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily reported.
If the state fails to do so by December 22, the farmers will inform the International Olympic Committee directly that their land is unavailable, the paper cited a lawyer hired by the farmers as saying.
"All of this land lies within the security zone that the IOC is demanding around the Olympic site," Ludwig Seitz from law firm Labbe und Partner told the paper.
Seitz was not immediately available for comment.
The daily quotes Siegfried Schneider from the Munich state chancellery, who revealed last month that an agreement with the farmers had been reached, as saying that most of the land owned is not even part of the Olympic plans.
"The bid is not in danger at all. If necessary we have alternative solutions," Schneider told the paper.
But it also cites unnamed sources close to the talks saying that this was not the case, and that the farmers' refusal would force organisers to use other land, the owners of which would also kick up a fuss.
Munich is competing against Pyeongchang, South Korea and Annecy in France to host the Games. The IOC is due to announce its decision in Durban, South Africa on July 6.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to throw the federal government's weight formally behind the bid on Wednesday when she hosts Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer and the mayor of Munich in Berlin.
All ice competitions would be held in Munich, using the stadium built for the 1972 Summer Games, while all snow events would be in Garmisch, 90 kilometres (55 miles) to the south.
Bobsleigh and luge would be 150 kilometres southeast of Munich at Lake Koenigssee in the picture-postcard Berchtesgadener Land district.
Garmisch, host of the 1936 Winter Games, already boasts the infrastructure, including transport links and accommodation, to be able to host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in February next year.
There is also considerable opposition among Garmisch locals to the financial and ecological impact of the Games, citing the experiences of 2010 hosts Vancouver and Sochi in Russia, where the 2014 Games will be held.
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