The majority of French are behind Paris lodging a bid to stage the 2024 Olympic Games, a poll published on Monday revealed.
Almost three-quarters of those questioned in the CSA survey for newspaper Direct Matin support the French capital in its attempt to secure the Games.
The poll found that a total of 73 percent would like to see the Games return to Paris for the third time after 1900 and 1924.
Paris suffered a traumatic loss, despite being the hot favorites, to London to host the 2012 edition.
The findings appeared two days before the French Committee for International Sport was to deliver a feasibility study on the City of Light staging the sporting extravaganza in nine years time after Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Tokyo (2020).
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will make a decision on whether the city will lodge a bid by June, her office said last week.
Hidalgo has been lukewarm toward bidding, but following French President Francois Hollande’s comments in support of Paris 2024 in November last year, sources close to the mayor believe she could be convinced.
The poll, which found greater enthusiasm for the 2024 Games in Paris among 18-24 year-olds (88 percent) than people aged over 65 (61 percent), found that support is nevertheless less solid compared with a similar poll conducted in 2005.
In that survey, 81 percent of those questioned backed Paris’ ultimately fruitless attempt to hold the 2012 Olympics.
There is already a long list of potential candidates for the 2024 Games readying their bids ahead of a Sept. 15, 2015 deadline announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In Europe, Berlin and Hamburg in Germany, as well as Rome are considering throwing their hats into the Olympic ring, while Boston is also a candidate.
Durban could press to become the first African host of the Games. Istanbul — which was runner-up to Tokyo for the 2020 Games — is also considering a new bid.
Cities must make applications and then have until Jan. 8 next year to place guarantees.
A shortlist will be chosen by the IOC in May next year, leaving about 14 months campaigning before a final vote.
A final decision is to be taken in Lima in the middle of 2017.
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