ROME – Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has rejected the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics, effectively dooming the capital’s candidacy.
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‘It would be irresponsible for us to support this candidacy, ‘ Raggi told reporters, saying the games would bury Rome under huge debts and piles of cement.
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. “They had a $200 million-plus surplus and it’s Hollywood, right, they know how to throw a party and they know how to clean up the day after”, she said.
If Rome pulls out – her motion still has to be voted on – only Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest will be left in the running.
On Twitter, the official campaign has been posting with Hashtag #ROMASENZEFUTURO (“Rome With No Future”), claiming that the city will not progress without the bid.
Imagine that – prioritizing the long-term needs of the people who live in a city over the short-term buzz and high-roller adulation that comes with hosting the games. And that still doesn’t mean the the Italian Olympic Committee has to drop its bid, though the lack of support by the mayor of a host city is certainly the death knell for any project. “We won’t allow that”.
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.
The announcement was a blow to the International Olympic Committee, which is struggling to convince cities of the economic benefits of hosting the Games.
Cr Quirk, who has spearheaded the Council of Mayors (South East Queensland)’s push for a regional Olympic bid, said he would continue to take a wait-and-see approach. According the Quartz, Rio was looking at an initial estimate of $4.6 billion, but it’s probably even more than that.
But Raggi added: “Boston, Hamburg and Madrid all had strong reasons to oppose hosting the Games”.
During her campaign, Raggi promised to fix Rome’s transport, garbage and corruption scandals. In Hamburg, a public referendum narrowly denied the city a chance to host, with 52 percent of voters weighing in with a “no”.
The Eternal City’s a mess and its no-nonsense new mayor says there are far bigger priorities than an expensive attempt to win the 2024 Summer Games.
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LA has twice before hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984 and has been tagged as the favourite out of the three candidates to win it for 2024.
