Award for Munich: The Olympics are not a panacea

Golf for Munich! The city can apply to host the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Games could take place again in Germany in 2036, 2040 or 2044. Now all that remains is to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the advantages of the Bavarian capital.

It's certainly not easy. And it requires an act of almost total submission to the IOC regime. This requires a lot of government guarantees to finance the games and for the safety of athletes and fans at the mega event.

The federal government, the state of Bavaria and the Munich municipality will be generous. While savings are being made in the budgets for social affairs or culture, the coffers are being opened for the Olympics. Long before the initial plans became real concepts, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) had already made a financing promise for the games. No price seems too high for the Olympics in Germany.

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One cannot imagine the surveillance fantasies that a German interior minister will be allowed to live out in the face of such sensitive major events as the Olympic Games. A secret service background check for all people accredited to the Games has long been part of everyday Olympic life.

All too often in the past, sporting events have been used to provide police with new tools. At the Football World Cup in 2006, the Bundeswehr even stood by as a security reserve, without there being any actual discussion about such an internal use of the German military.

The value of the Olympic Games for German society should outweigh all the negative things, which Munich's Green Mayor Dominik Krause is certainly aware of. At the DOSB general meeting on Saturday, the unifying power of sport was talked about again and again. A frequently expressed wish is that the games will bring the country closer together again.

But can the Olympics really achieve that? The Paris Games seem to prove otherwise. With the crazy images of athletes in front of historical backdrops, Paris has spread a lot of magic around the world. Two good years later, French society is as divided as it was before. So if Munich actually hosts the games one day, you shouldn't overload the event with expectations.