“In light of the data we have, these Olympics are not sustainable”, she was quoted as saying at a news conference.
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There was confusion earlier when reports said she had failed to turn up for a meeting with a delegation from the Italian Olympic Committee.
Raggi says it’s irresponsible to bid for 2024 Olympic Games, effectively dooming Rome’s candidacy.
Her rejection of the capital’s Olympic bid marks Rome’s second withdrawal in four years after then-premier Mario Monti nixed the city’s plans to bid for the 2020 Olympics on economic grounds.
In a statement released on ilblogdellestelle.it on Wednesday, Raggi said: “We oppose the candidature of Rome for the 2024 Olympics because we will not mortgage the future of Romans and Italians”. Rome’s bid team reacted furiously, saying the decision had been taken for “ideological, political and demagogic” reasons which would deprive the city of investments worth up to $1.7 billion and the creation of almost 200,000 jobs.
Rome last hosted the Olympic Games in 1960, a sporting spectacle which featured 150 events across 17 sports.
After years of mismanagement of the city, hosting an Olympics is not top of her list of priorities.
“At this stage, I’m not in a position to comment because it’s not my decision to make, it’s the totality of the mayors that have got to make a decision on it”, he said. But these days the games seem increasingly unappealing, as protests last month against the staggering waste of Brazil’s $12 billion Rio Games attested. Elio Lannutti, a leading figure within the Five Star party, recently wrote that the Olympics would “debt and act as a powerful arm of massive distraction” for Rome. “Romans don’t want that”, added Raggi.
“We’re honoured that Rome will host such an important sports event”, Raggi said. “We are going on until the formal decision”.
The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city in September 2017.
So, which cities are most likely to host the 2024 Summer Games? In Hamburg, a public referendum narrowly denied the city a chance to host, with 52 percent of voters weighing in with a “no”. “We just don’t support it”, the mayor said in a press conference.
Raggi blamed her opposition on the history of gross cost overruns that Olympic host cities have experienced over the past several Games.
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Raggi managed to enrage Malago and fellow CONI members when the mayor and her entourage appeared 35 minutes later for crunch talks scheduled prior to the announcement.
