Berlin, Germany's capital, will not be involved in any bid by that country to stage the Summer Olympics in the next 18 years.
City authorities in Berlin have now confirmed that it is withdrawing from a likely bid that is being organized in Germany to stage either the 2036, 2040, or 2044 Summer Games.
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The Berlin Senate announced this withdrawal at a press conference, following media reports that this move was imminent.
The decision leaves only the southern city of Munich, and the industrial Rhine/Ruhr region in the west of Germany, as potential Olympic hosts. The northern city of Hamburg has already withdrawn from the running, in May this year.
The German Olympic Committee (DOSB) will take a final decision over the weekend on which of Munich or the Rhine-Ruhr area will become the preferred region for any of the three Olympics listed above.
Berlin has hosted the games once before, in 1936, while Munich (then, technically, in West Germany) staged the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Kai Wegner, mayor of Berlin, told media earlier: "Today is a sad day for Berlin, because the Olympic and Paralympic Games would have been a tremendous opportunity – for Berlin, for East Germany, and for future generations."
The withdrawal also came after the political party which garnered most support in Berlin in the recent elections, leftist Die Linke, said it would not support a Berlin bid. In particular, that party's lead candidate, Elif Eralp, said she personally was not in favour of Berlin being the chosen German city.
On this issue, Wegner commented: "Naturally, political stability was a key concern for the leading sports associations.
"When Ms. Eralp stated that the bid was effectively off the table … the leading sports associations made it clear – we cannot give our approval under these circumstances."
Kaweh Niroomand, who was heading up the Berlin bid, added: "We simply could not offer the political stability required."
The 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be held in Los Angeles, USA, while the 2032 games will take place in Brisbane, Australia.
In terms of other options for the 2036 or 2040 games, meanwhile, South Africa, India, and Qatar have already made their intention to bid for hosting rights to the earlier event clear.
Saudi Arabia is also intending to bid to put on the 2036 Games (with the IOC having not yet unveiled a timeline for selecting that event's host).
