“Following an in-depth analysis, we believe the conditions for the ongoing candidacy of the city of Rome for the 2025 Olympics and Paralympics aren’t there”, she told a media conference.
Advertisement
Olympic venues built by other cities around the world often became “empty skeletons”, abandoned and forgotten, she said.
Raggi was scheduled to meet with Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago and bid vice president Luca Pancalli, then hold a news conference at city hall, but 45 minutes after the meeting was scheduled to begin, Malago and the rest of the delegation left city hall saying Raggi hadn’t shown up.
With the news that Rome will drop their bid for the 2024 games, LA is now the likely favorite to beat out Paris and Budapest, Hungary, to host the summer Olympics in eight years.
He described Rome’s “missed opportunity” and described how the Olympics have changed and how hosting would be different under the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Agenda 2020 that supports sensible, sustainable and legacy friendly bids.
This is the second time in four years Rome has nixed an Olympic bid. She said Rome’s focus and finances should be aimed at dealing with a wide array of problems facing a city with a $14.6 billion debt.
It was clear there was much animosity among the leaders.
Bidding for the 2024 Olympics would be against the interests of ordinary people, the Mayor said, citing a study that found that almost 70 per cent of Romans were against the idea.
When asked if the planned $103 million Belmont Beach and Aquatics Center could be part of Long Beach’s pitch to be included in the bid, Garcia declined to comment.
Malago, who is now expected to turn to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for continued support of Roma2024, says he won’t give up hope until the bid is dead and buried.
The International Olympic Committee will select the 2024 host city on September 13, 2017 in Lima, Peru.
Still, the 1984 Games the city hosted have gone down as one of the most profitable and successful Olympiads in modern history. As Rome mayor I believe this bid is unsustainable.
Malago refuted Raggi’s argument that the Eternal City, rocked by a scandal a year ago which revealed the extent of mafia involvement in city building projects under former mayor Ignazio Marino, could ill afford to be burdened with the financial costs of holding an Olympics. Plus, a nightly parade of athletes at the Colosseum. Rome also pulled out of candidacy for the 2020 Olympics due to budget concerns.
It envisioned spending €2.1 billion (£1.6 billion/$2.3 billion) on permanent structures, principally the Olympic Village and the press centre, and €3.2 billion (£2.5 billion/$3.6 billion) on temporary facilities, running costs and management. With elaborate plans already in place, there was a significant shakeup on Wednesday in the race to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Los Angeles replaced Boston as the United States candidate in August 2015 after a collapse in local support for the latter.
Advertisement
During her campaign, Raggi promised to fix Rome’s transport, garbage and corruption scandals.
