Krakow, Poland, says no to bidding for 2022 Winter Olympics

For the second time in six months, a major city has pulled out of the running for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

On Monday, officials in Krakow, Poland, published the results of a public referendum that saw 70% of voters say “no” to bidding for the Games.

Last December, Stockholm withdrew because of financial concerns.

Krakow had proposed sharing the Games with neighboring Slovakia. Mayor Jacek Majchrowski released a statement expressing his disappointment in the weekend vote. He blamed a recent scandal within the bid team.

It was just last month that bid leader Jagna Marczulajtis-Walczak resigned over allegations that her husband tried to bribe journalists into writing favorable stories.

But a larger issue looms over the Olympics. Russia recently spent a record $51 billion to host the Sochi Winter Games and Rio de Janeiro is struggling with construction delays and disorganization in its preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The contenders for 2022 have now been whittled down to Beijing, Oslo in Norway, Almaty in Kazakhstan and the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Earlier this week, the International Olympic Committee appointed members to 14 working groups that will prepare a “strategic road map” for the future of the Games.