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City council votes in favor of Paris' bid for 2024 Olympics (updated 2)

Xinhua, April 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Paris council voted in favor of supporting the French capital city's bid for the 2024 Olympic Games here Monday morning.

After the City Hall of 163 councilors giving its backing to mayor Anne Hidalgo's resolution, Paris moved a decisive step toward officially announcing a bid with most political obstacles having been tackled.

"This is an historical vote which marks an important moment of our collective life," said the female mayor. "Now we're off on an Olympic adventure."

French president Francois Hollande expressed his support on the idea of Paris bidding for the Games five months ago.

"For the 2024 Olympic Games, I'm in favor of the city if Paris decides to put in a bid for the Games," he told a prime-time television interview "Francois Hollande faces French people" on November 6, 2014.

"We need big events," added the president, citing the climate conference in 2025 and the Euro 2016 soccer event.

Hidalgo, who was reticent for a long time, has in recent months come round to agree that Paris should host the grand event exactly 100 years after it last held the Games.

She said on Monday that a new feasibility study, the Islamist attacks in the city in January, and the likely contribution of 1.8 billion euros from the International Olympic Committee had changed her mind.

Her resolution approved Monday says the bid should be led by athletes and would benefit the country's struggling economy.

Hidalgo's deputy for sport Jean-Francois Martins echoed by saying that "sport has given Paris its shape, and it should keep doing so".

The cost of bidding itself would reach 60 million euros, with part of the budget likely to be obtained through crowd funding, according to Martins.

Paris' infrastructure budget for hosting the 2024 Games has been estimated at 3 billion euros, with operational costs of 3.2 billion euros.

IOC member Tony Estanguet attended Monday's vote. The Frenchman earlier said existing infrastructure would be at the heart of the project, including the Stade de France, a new cycling track on the outskirts of Paris, the Roland Garros tennis center and many Parisian landmarks like the Grand Palais and Champ de Mars.

Paris may need to build a new swimming pool, an Olympic village and a media center as required in main constructions if bidding for the Games.

The French National Olympic Committee now has until September 15 to formally declare the candidacy to the IOC in Lausanne.

Paris failed in bids for the 1992, 2008 and 2012 Games. The birthplace of Founder of the Modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin has twice hosted the Summer Olympics in 1924 and 1900 when Olympic Games came as part of the World Expo.

Boston, Rome and Hamburg have already launched their bids for the 2024 Games, with the IOC to make final decision due in 2017. Istanbul, Doha and Baku are other potential candidates to compete for the Games. Endi