Italian Olympic Bid Ready for Mayor Showdown

(ATR) Rome 2024 tells Around the Rings bid leaders expect to meet Rome mayor Virginia Raggi this week before she decides whether to back or abandon the Olympic effort.

Italian news agency ANSA tips Raggi to announce this week that she has decided against supporting Rome's bid, continuing the opposition against the Olympic effort displayed during her mayoral campaign.

A bid spokesman told ATR Monday he believes Raggi will honor her commitment to meet with CONI head Giovanni Malago and bid chiefs after the Paralympics before casting her verdict.

"We are sure they will respect what was promised: a meeting with Rome 2024 first, and then the decision," he said.

There is uncertainty about whether it will happen this week, as Italian media are reporting.

"The mayor’s office hasn’t scheduled anything yet. This could happen shortly," he said.

The spokesman said bid leader Malagò, vice president Luca Pancalli and director general Diana Bianchedi are ready to meet with Raggi when she calls a meeting.

Last week, Bianchedi expressed confidence in persuading Raggi to throw her support behind the bid.

"The more I examine our dossier, the more I believe that the capital’s Olympic project can prove its importance to our mayor," Bianchedi told ATR.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said it would be "very sad" if Rome was forced to withdraw its candidacy for the 2024 Olympics.

Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris are the other cities in contention for the 2024 Olympics. The IOC votes on the host in September 2017.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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