BOSTON, July 27 (UPI) -- Boston has ended its bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics, and though an official reason has not yet been revealed, the mayor said Monday he was hesitant to put taxpayers on the hook for any costs associated with the games.
U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky announced the organization has ended negotiations with Boston.
"It's over," one official with knowledge of the situation told the Boston Globe. "The discussions are about how to sunset it."
In January, the USOC nominated Boston to represent the United States in the 2024 bid process, passing over bids from San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It's unclear which of the cities the USOC will now choose in Boston's place.
Related
The USOC hasn't revealed the reason for the end to Boston's bid, though Mayor Martin Walsh gave a news conference Monday saying he didn't want taxpayers to have to pay for preparations for the games if local Olympic organizers ran out of money.
"I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic Games back to the United States would be good for our country and would have brought long-term benefits to Boston," Walsh said. "However, no benefit is so great that it is worth handing over the financial future of our city and our citizens were rightly hesitant to be supportive as a result.
"We always anticipated having the time to do our due diligence on the guarantees required and a full review of the risk and mitigation package proposed last week," he said. "This is a monumental decision that cannot be rushed, even if it means not moving forward with our bid for the 2024 Summer Games."
Tank Taxes for Olympics, an organization that called for a referendum on holding the games in Boston issued a statement applauding the news, WCVB-TV in Boston reported.
"We are a world class state without the Olympics. We don't need to spend billions of tax dollars to prove that fact," said state Rep. Shaunna O'Connell, co-chair of the group.
