International Edition MEMBER SERVICES The Web CNN.com Home Page World U.S. Weather ... Special Reports SERVICES Video E-mail Services CNNtoGO Contact Us SEARCH Web CNN.com Leipzig plans city-center Games Story Tools RELATED Nine cities in 2012 Olympic race Istanbul bid crosses continents Leipzig plans city-center Games London's 'compact' bid unveiled ... Paris draws on savoir-faire LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) Leipzig unveiled plans to stage the Olympics closely around the city center if its scandal-hit bid to host the 2012 Games succeeds. The east German city, which faces a tough fight from rival bids London, Paris and New York, is a clear outsider to stage the showpiece event. The campaign has already been hit by the expulsion of several top officials amid allegations over links with the former East German Stasi secret police and financial irregularities. The German government, however, has backed the bid in the hope of giving the country's deprived former communist east a much-needed lift. Bid chief Peter Zuehlsdorff said on Friday over 90 percent of the events would be held within a 10 kilometer radius of the city center with heavy security planned including 20,000 police officers and 5,000 other security personnel. Organizers submitted a budget of 1.85 billion euros ($2.35 billion) to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for temporary facilities and for running the Games. | |
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