Bidding for 2020 - Rome Briefs PM; Legislative Love for Tokyo; Doha on Display

Rome 2020 Prepares Report for PM

Mario Pescante, president of Rome 2020, says the bid has prepared a report for new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to review.

Speaking in Lausanne ahead of this week’s IOC Executive Board meeting, Pescante said the report will allow Monti "to discuss the bid in the appropriate way."

"There is a report about the cost and the benefit, and it was delivered to the government. [It is] very interesting in my opinion," he added.

The report will help form Monti’s decision whether to provide large financial guarantees for the bid from his austerity-rich budget.

Pescante, also an IOC vice president, admits there is "a problem in principal" with Italy’s precarious financial position. He said he met with IOC president Jacques Rogge on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

As a result, Rome 2020 is taking a "low profile" approach, Pescante said.

"We are waiting for the time to say ‘this is the moment to invest.’"

One factor that may be tough for the Italian public to swallow is the price of the Games. Pescante said the public costs would reach nearly $7 billion with the price including private investments totaling "at least three times more."

Legislative Love for Tokyo 2020

The lower house of Japan’s bicameral legislature now backs Tokyo 2020.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday calling for government, lawmakers and citizens alike to unite in support of the Olympic bid.

"It is wonderful news," Tokyo 2020 President Tsunekazu Takeda said in a statement.

"This will serve as a major step forward in our efforts to boost domestic support for the bid."

The legislation also highlights the contributions the Games could make to Japan’s sporting development as well as to the country’s ongoing recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The upper house of the National Diet is slated to consider the bill later this week.

"I am confidentthat the House of Councillors will also adopt the resolution," added Takeda.

The lower house’s stamp of approval arrives just a week after Japan’s government formalized its bid support with the establishment of the Tokyo 2020 Council, a 64-member advisory board headed by Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara and including Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

Doha on Display

Opening Friday, the Arab Games should allow Doha to audition further for the chance to host the 2020 Olympics.

IOC members from both Africa and Asia will come to Qatar alongside more than 6,000 athletes and officials from 22 countries for competition in 31 sports and two Paralympic disciplines running through Dec. 23.

With the 2020 vote scheduled for September 2013 and an IOC shortlist arriving in May 2012, such opportunities to showcase bid cities in the meantime will be in short supply.

Written and reported in Lausanne by Ed Hula III and in Atlanta by Matthew Grayson.