UPDATED - Chaotic End to Rome Olympic Bid

(ATR)Mayor Virginia Raggi kills off Rome's Olympic ambitions after missing a crunch meeting with 2024 bid officials.

"These Olympics are not sustainable. They will bring only debt," Raggi told a press conference after failing to show up for her promised meeting with bid leaders.

"It will be the city assembly, the sovereign body and democratically elected organ, that will express its position," Raggi was quoted by the Associated Press. "We have illustrated our political position today. If it's accepted by the assembly we'll deal with the ensuing consequences."

This is the same city assembly which overwhelmingly voted to support the bid. But that was before Raggi became mayor in June. Now officials are being asked to back her plans to drop it.

Rome's exit amid chaotic scenes in the Eternal City leaves three candidate cities to fight it out for 2024 Olympic hosting rights - Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris. The IOC votes in September 2017.

Raggi was tipped to announce Wednesday that she would continue her long-running opposition the Olympic bid, which was a focal point of hermayoral campaign.In a last-ditch bid to save Rome 2024, CONI president Giovanni Malago and Rome 2024 director general Diana Bianchedi were seeking to persuade her of the benefits of the bid for the city.

A Rome 2024 source told Around the Rings that meeting did not happen. Raggi was more than 30 minutes late for the summit. Malago, Bianchedi and other senior bid officials grew tired of waiting and had left - negotiating a huge media scrum - by the time she got to Campidoglio.

The Italian Olympic Committee and Raggi held separate press conferences Wednesday afternoon.

Raggi cited the costs of the failed 2020 Olympic bid, ended by previous premier Mario Monti for financial reasons, and the costs of Rome 2024 as her reasons for rejecting the bid.

Rome's departure is yet to be confirmed by CONI, with some Rome officials saying Raggi's announcement may not be the end of its campaign. While Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is championing the Olympic bid, it cannot go ahead with the support of Rome's mayor.

On Oct. 7, the 2024 bids are set to submit their second of three bid dossiers to the IOC, covering governance, legal and venue funding.

The Italian city follows Hamburg in exiting the 2024 bid race, raising more questions for the IOC president Thomas Bach. The revamped bidding process will come under fresh scrutiny, while the Olympic brand has taken another knock after the botched 2022 bidding contest which left just Beijing and Almaty to vie for the Winter Olympics. Beijing succeeded.

Written by Mark Bisson

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