(ATR) IOC vice-president Mario Pescante is now the choice to lead Rome’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
The decision was announced in Rome shortly after Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said he had declined the government’s offer to head the panel.
The announcement will be formally made on Feb. 23, Pescante’s aides said.
The former head of the Italian Olympic Committee, Pescante was appointed IOC Permanent Observer at the United Nations last year. He also holds the post of chairman of the International Relations Commission.
Pescante, 72, has served as an IOC member since 1994 and was elected to a four-year term as a vice president in 2009.
He is also a deputy in the Italian Parliament.
Rome was chosen over Venice last year to be Italy's candidate for the 2020 Summer Games. The winning city will be chosen in 2013.
Pescante is the third name to surface in the search for a chairman of the Rome bid. Along with Montezemolo, the founder of Technogym, Nerio Alessandri, was also recruited for the chairmanship.
Gianni Letta, a highly connected senior counselor in the Italian government, declined last year to lead the bid, but will play an advisory role, including approval of Pescante as bid chair.
The race for the 2020 Olympics begins in May when the IOC opens applications to bid. The IOC vote for 2020 takes place in September 2013.
Bids from South Africa, the Middle East, Japan and Europe are expected for 2020.
With reporting from Marta Falconi
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
