 In February 2008, Czech Premier Mirek Topolánek emphatically stated Prague's bid will not get financial guarantees from the government, even if the city makes the short list of contenders, effectively ending the campaign.Even then, Prague was still officially in the running for the games.In March 2008, the item was still under contention when local press highlighted that the official questionnaire claims it would receive the equivalent of $5.2 million from the Czech government, but failed to mention that the government provided only legal guarantees.