The minutes of a closed meeting that took place on 8 August show that Maastricht refused to sign a specific contract. At that time, Rotterdam and Maastricht were still fully in the battle for the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest. Would that contract refuse have been the deciding factor for choosing Rotterdam?
John Aerts, Minister of Finance in Maastricht, called it a strangulation contract. According to him, that agreement contained matters that NPO had never mentioned before. Suddenly, a Eurovision organization would entail many more risks than they originally thought. Besides, they would also have added that all those risks would be passed on to the city and the MECC. At last, the Council decided to draw up a new cooperation agreement in which some serious risks were better covered. Nevertheless, NPO, AVROTROS and NOS chose Rotterdam.
Rotterdam agreed on the contract
A municipal spokesperson confirms that Rotterdam gave an agreement at the beginning of August. In addition, the Rotterdam alderman Said Kasmi also does not recognize himself in the stranglehold story. “We have signed a contract for a “partnership” based on normal relationships between client and contractor.”, Said explains. There was time and space for negotiations between the interim and final contract. Said however cannot clarify to what range Rotterdam made use of this, as there is a confidentiality about the contract.
According to Eurovision spokesperson Babet Verstappen, the resistance of Maastricht did not determine the election of Rotterdam. Ahoy Rotterdam simply contains the best possibilities to turn this difficult challenge into a real spectacle. The arena really has everything to offer and has proven this several times in the past. “Organizing the Eurovision Song Contest is a big deal. The host city plays a crucial role in this. It is appropriate that Rotterdam makes proper agreements with the organizing broadcaster. “, says Babet.
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