An Olympic bid by the Rhine-Ruhr region is backed by a majority of 54% in the 17 cities and towns earmarked to host events, according to a latest survey which comes amid a referendum until Sunday.
The Forsa insitute said on Thursday that its survey, commissioned by 39 papers in the state of North Rhine-Wwestphalia, saw 38% oppose future Games while 8% did not answer.
The survey took place April 7-14 among 1,531 people, 400 of them from cities or towns set to host events.
The state-wide result was 48% in favour and 39% against Olympics.
The referendum in the form of a postal vote until Sunday is open for more than 4 million people in the bidding cities and towns of Aachen, Bochum, Cologne, Dortmund, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herten, Krefeld, Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach, Monheim, Oberhausen, Pulheim, Recklinghausen and Wuppertal.
CologneRhineRuhr is one of four German bids to host Olympics in 2036, 2040 or 2044. Munich has held a referendum which saw 66.4% support, Hamburg plans a referendum for May 31 while in Berlin the local parliament will decide.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) will on September 27 decide on the candidate and for which Games to bid.
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