(ATR) Italy will propose Milan as the host city for the 2019 IOC Session.
An Italian National Committee spokesperson confirmed the intentions to Around the Rings.
"I am sure that we will have a bid," the spokesperson said referring to the 132nd IOC session.
Milan has never hosted an IOC session. The deadline for NOC’s to deliver the dossier for 2019 IOC Session is March 15.
The host cities for the 2026 Winter Olympics and the 2025 Winter Youth Olympics will be selected at the 2019 session, meaning that Italy will not be allowed to put forth a bid for either of those Games.
The last time a host city contract was awarded in Italy was in 1966 in Rome when Munich, Germany won the right to host the 1972 Summer Games and Sapporo, Japan the ‘72 Winter Games.
The Milan bid comes on the heels of the withdrawal of Rome as a candidate to host the 2024 Summer Games. Lacking the necessary backing of Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi and the city council, the Italian NOC formally declared the end of the candidature on Oct. 11.
"At this moment, our disappointment is bigger than in the past, but it’s life," the Italian NOC spokesperson said of the failed Rome bid.
Shortly after the announcement of the suspended 2024 bid on Oct. 11, Italian NOC president Giovanni Malago first expressed intentions of Milan as a potential host city for the 2019 session. Regarding the Rome candidature, Malago said it was "impossible" to move forward without the support of city’s municipal government and he had sent a letter to the IOC "suspending" the bid.
"This is the first step of Italy’s rehabilitation after this unacceptable interruption," Malago said at a news conference in Rome on Oct. 11.
According to the Italian NOC, Malago has strong relationships with Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala and Lombardy regional Governor Roberto Maroni, the former Italian internal affairs minister.
Italy’s second largest city, Milan hosted Expo 2015 between May 1 and Oct. 31. It marked the second time that Milan hosted the international exposition, the first being in 1906.
Milan was also a primary venue for the 1990 FIFA World Cup as it hosted the best attended match of the tournament as 74,765 spectators watched West Germany defeat Yugoslavia at San Siro Stadium.
Italy last hosted an IOC Session in Turin prior to the 2006 Winter Games. Rome has hosted sessions five times - in 1982, 1966, 1960, 1949 and 1923. Cortina d’Ampezzo hosted a session at the 1956 Winter Games.
The IOC will choose the host of the 2019 Session in Lima, Peru on Sep. 17.
Reported by Brian Pinelli
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