Bidding for the Games - Rome Faces Do or Die Decision

Do or Die for Rome Bid

Around the Rings is told Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti must make a decision on whether to back Rome 2020 by Thursday or the bid will be dead in the water.

On Feb. 9, Monti is scheduled to fly to Washington D.C. for meetings with President Barack Obama. Further political meetings in New York City follow over the weekend.

Monti is considering postponing Rome's 2020 bid to 2024 due to the ongoing debt crisis in Italy.

With the IOC's Feb. 15 deadline for applicant files looming, a Rome 2020 spokesman told ATR that Monti's travel schedule dictated that a decision would come in the next two days while he was on home soil.

He said Monti had originally said that the whole government would be responsible for the decision but that now the Italian premier had taken it upon himself to decide whether his administration should support the bid.

Tokyo 2020 Celebrates Bridge Completion

Tokyo 2020 says the completion of a new bridge in the capital city is a symbol of how the city is preparing for an Olympic Games.

Over the weekend, the bid committee and 15,000 sports fans celebrated the opening of the Tokyo Gate Bridge, which will improve transportation in the city.

"The establishment of the new bridge demonstrates Tokyo’s continuous economic growth and urbanization," said Tokyo 2020 CEO Masato Mizuno.

The city’s transportation network was enhanced in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and has been upgraded since then as well.

Doha Logo Coming

The logo and website for the Doha 2020 are scheduled to be unveiled at a ceremony Feb. 10 at the Museum for Islamic Art. Doha, as well as the other 2020 contenders, plan a trip to Lausanne next week to deliver its application to the IOC.

Istanbul

A high level delegation from Istanbul will travel to IOC headquarters next week with the applicant file. Also timed with the Lausanne visit will be the launch of elements of the look of the bid from Turkey.

Madrid

The Madrid delegation to Lausanne next week will include Alejandro Blanco, Spanish NOC President and president of the Madrid 2020 Bid Committee, Theresa Zabell, International Relations CEO, Raúl Chapado, Sports Director and Manuel Cano, National Press Coordinator. They will deliver the file on Feb. 14, a day before the document is due at the IOC.

Baku Chief to Lausanne, Doha Link

Konul Nurullayeva, CEO of the Baku bid, will carry the bid application to Lausanne Feb. 14. She is one of two female CEOs for the 2020 bids. Noora Al Mannai of Doha is the other.

Qatar Air is now flying to Baku from Doha. The new daily airlink between the two bid cities for 2020 opened last week. The Azeri capital airport is served now by nearly three dozen airlines.

Written by Ed Hula and Mark Bisson.