Berlin withdraws from bid to host the Summer Olympic Games

Berlin - AFP - Berlin has withdrawn from the bid to host the next Summer Olympic Games, leaving only Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region as potential candidates, according to local media reports.

Berlin was among four German regions that initially competed for the bid, but it decided to withdraw, according to German public broadcaster ARD.

Hamburg was also among the four initial candidates, but it withdrew following an unfavorable result in a public consultation held in May.

In the same month, the Berlin government had reaffirmed its desire to host the Games, but its position may change following elections in the German capital on Sunday.

Germany has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice, first in Berlin in 1936 when the country was under Nazi rule, and then in Munich in 1972, when it was part of West Germany.