Former Ferrari Chief Confirmed to Lead Rome 2024 Olympic Bid

(ATR) Ex-Ferrari chief Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo will lead the Rome 2024 Olympic bid.

Italian NOC president Giovanni Malago announced the bid leadership after an executive board meeting of CONI on Tuesday.

Montezemolo, 67, will head the bid. Vice president will be Luca Pancalli, president of the Italian Paralympic Committee.

ATR is told that Malago and Montezemolo will meet IOC president Thomas Bach in Lausanne on Wednesday.

Montezemolo’s leadership of the bid had been rumored but CONI had to wait for the election of a new Italian president before making any official announcement.

Italian IOC member Mario Pescante, who was at the forefront of Rome’s failed 2020 bid, recently highlighted Montezemolo’s credentials to lead Rome 2024, saying he was well-connected and the right man for the job because of his experience in international sports and business.

Montezemolo, who quit Ferrari last year after 23 years as president, led Italy’s 1990 FIFA World Cup organizing committee. He is currently chair of airline Alitalia.

Wednesday’s meeting of Rome 2024’s leaders with Bach has been scheduled for some time.

Malago and Italian PM Matteo Renzi held talks with the IOC chief at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month where they discussed Rome's bid for the 2024 Games.

At the time, Bach praised Renzi’s "strong commitment" to Rome’s Olympic quest.

Boston and Rome are so far the only confirmed bids for the 2024 Games. But Germany is expected to submit a bid from either Berlin or Hamburg. Paris, Budapest and Qatar are also mulling bids.

Bid applications are due with the IOC by September. The IOC vote on the host city takes place in 2017.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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