Exclusive - Rome 2024 Chief Not Concerned Mayoral Favorite May Abandon Bid

(ATR) Luca di Montezemolo tells Around the Rings he’s "very optimistic we can stay in the race" despite Premier Matteo Renzi suggesting the Olympic bid may collapse if Virginia Raggi wins the Rome mayoral election.

Raggi is the frontrunner in mayoral run-offs on June 19. She is against investing taxpayers’ money on the 2024 Olympic project because of the city’s financial problems. Renzi said Wednesday that if the Democratic Party’s candidate for mayor Roberto Giachetti loses "I have the impression that the 2024 Olympics would be pulled", he was quoted by Italian news agency ANSA.

While Montezemolo told ATR he agrees with Raggi that Rome has other priorities to be solved, he remains hopeful of hammering out a deal with her if she emerges victorious. "The 2024 Olympic Games are coming in eight years, and I believe that a good mayor must be forward-looking.

"Today it’s mandatory to set a long-term plan for Rome and Italy: if we have short-sighted leaders, who don’t think of the future of the young generation, it would be a kind of admission of defeat."

The ex-Ferrari chief emphasized that Rome’s Olympic campaign enjoyed support from the government and other stakeholders as well as strong backing from the city’s residents. "It’s clear that this bid is an extraordinary opportunity for our city and nation to grow," he said.

Montezemolo said he had spoken in person with Raggi earlier this week at Rome’s U.S. embassy. She held discussions about the bid with the Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malagò last month.

"We chatted on the various touch points of our different projects. We both want to set the plan inspired by the highest level of transparency and legality, with great care on the costs," the bid leader said.

"Everything we do is in the citizens’ interest," he added, noting her anti-Olympic stance and her comments that amid the city’s financial crisis, she’d rather "take care of the ordinary before the extraordinary."

Montezemolo told ATR that he had informed Raggi, "we have all the time on our side" and hopes to persuade her of the benefits of the Olympics if she wins the mayoral race.

Asked if he was worried Raggi would scupper the 2024 bid, he responded: "We absolutely are not concerned. We have a very clear project. We are carrying on in total transparency, backed by a lot of organizations, all the sports community, by the president of the Republic and the prime minister."

He also cited the findings of the latest public opinion poll on the bid conducted by SWG and released Wednesday.

Of 1,500 respondents, 56 percent of the Rome citizens are strongly in favor of the Rome 2024 Olympics, with 21 percent agreeing that it is a positive project for the Italian capital.

"It’s a meaningful message that confirms we are proceeding in the right way," Montezemolo added.

Homepage photo: Getty Images

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