Tomas Petera, head of the Praha Olympijska company, has called for Prague's bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games to be adjourned due to little political support and the economic crisis, the Czech News Agency CTK said on Friday.
The Czech Olympic Committee (COV) and the Prague City Hall have founded the Praha Olympijska company that aims to be pushing for and preparing the Prague candidacy.
However, Prague mayor Pavel Bem, an ardent proponent of the idea, said that the City Hall is preparing an analysis of the impact of the economic crisis and that the Olympic candidacy will be part of the analysis.
According to a financial study, the Olympics organisers count with 88 billion crowns (4.6 billion U.S. dollars) in direct costs. They count with 47 billion crowns (2.5 billion U.S. dollars) from public sources, including 25 billion (1. 3 billion U.S. dollars) from the state budget.
Prague has already sought hosting the 2016 Olympics, but it was not narrow-listed.
Some three-fifths of Czechs are against the idea of the Olympic Games in Prague in 2020, and two thirds of people fear the finacial impact of the Olympics. according to a STEM agency's poll, conducted on 1043 respondents above 18 in April.
(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2009)
