Bidding for 2020 - Rome Appeal; IOC Handovers; Baku Ambassadors

Final Appeal in Rome for 2020 Olympic Bid

Leaders of the Rome bid for 2020 are meeting Tuesday morning with Prime Minister Mario Monti to make a last minute plea for his backing for an Olympic bid. Monti’s approval is needed for the bid to submit its application to the IOC, due Wednesday in Lausanne.

The summit at Palazzo Chigi will include IOC vice president and bid chair Mario Pescante, Italian NOC President Gianni Petrucci and Rome Mayor Gianni Alemmano.

Speaking at an event Monday, Alemanno said he is confident that Monti will approve the Rome application for the Games.

Bid leaders have summoned a chorus of support in the past week urging Monti to support the Rome bid. Politicians, sports figures and personalities from arts all issued appeals to the Prime Minister

Monti, who took office in December to lead Italy through its debt crisis, is concerned that an Olympic Games in Rome present a risk to his efforts to restore confidence in the Italian economy.

The Prime Minister just finished a visit to the U.S. where he discussed his economic plans with President Obama and with business leaders and Wall Street media. In several nationally broadcast interviews, Monti expressed optimism that Italy is on the right path toward resolving its debt crisis, but he did not mention the decision he faces on the Olympic bid.

Monti met Monday with German chancellor Angela Merkel who is visiting Rome.

Doha, Tokyo Deliver Applicant Files

Two of the 2020 bid cities, Doha and Tokyo, have submitted their applicant files to the IOC.

Baku, Istanbul, Madrid and Rome were the only cities not to do so at the time of writing. Istanbul said they will submit their file on Wednesday, the other cities’ submission is expected shortly.

Four athletes were part of the Doha delegation to Lausanne.

Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, General Secretary of the Qatar Olympic Committee and Doha 2020 Vice Chairman led the group. Included in that was four-time Olympian Nasser Al-Attiyah.

"I have had the great privilege of competing at four Olympic Games and seen first-handtheir transformational impact and how they can inspire more young people to participate in sport," he said. "If Doha were to be given the honour of hosting the 2020 Games, I believe there is a wonderful opportunity to get many more young people across the Middle East playing sport and inspired by Olympic values."

Tokyo 2020 said in a statement that their application reflects lessons learned from their failed 2016 campaign.

"We have learned valuable lessons from our previous bid, which are evident in these improved technical plans," said Tsunekazu Takeda, bid president.

"We look forward to unveiling them publicly soon."

Baku Ambassadors; Committee Growth

Baku unveiled a list of eight bid ambassadors, including seven Olympians, which the bid calls Azeri "sporting heroes."

The ambassadors are: wrestling gold medalists Namig Abdullayev and Farid Mansurov, judoka gold medalist Elnur Mammadli, shooting gold medalists Irada Ashumova and Zemfira Meftaheddinova, Chess Grandmaster Teimour Radjabov show jumper Jamal Rahimov, and Paralympic gold medalist Ilham Zakiev.

This bid represents a unique opportunity for the world to discover modern Baku, and to encourage the young people with disabilities to participate in sports and to get inspired to realise their full potential in life," Zakiyev said.

Baku 2020 CEO Konul Nurullayevawas quoted in Azeri business media saying the bid will expand soon.

"Our purpose is to improve the organizational committee and conduct work at more professional level," she was quoted as saying. "We need experienced people in this direction. We carry out work in this direction and expect expansion of organizational committee’s composition in the nearest future."

Written by Ed Hula.