Rome mayor withdraws support for 2024 Olympic bid

Raggi, a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), had campaigned on a platform including opposition to the bid before being elected Rome’s first woman mayor in June by a landslide 67%. “The debts related to the Torino winter Games in 2006 are still ongoing”. Malagò later said Raggi would be better off not filing a motion against the capital’s bid to hold the 2024 Olympics.

In a statement released on ilblogdellestelle.it on Wednesday, Raggi said: “We oppose the candidature of Rome for the 2024 Olympics because we will not mortgage the future of Romans and Italians”.

Giovanni Malago, the president of Italy’s Olympic Committee, said last week the committee would abandon its bid to have Rome host the Games should it not get the mayor’s backing. The decision now leaves Paris as the favourites to host the 2024 Games although the French capital, which lost out to London in 2012, will be battling Los Angeles and Budapest.

“It’s very upsetting”, bid vice president Luca Pancalli said after Raggi’s announcement.

Still, Rome isn’t the only city to steer clear of the world’s biggest sporting event.

The Olympics movement is concerned the Games is losing its luster, with a pattern of cities pulling out of bidding for both summer and winter Games after baulking at the huge investments required.

The Rome bid was approved by the city assembly past year with 38 votes in favor and only six against — meaning Raggi may have to put the issue up for another vote to officially end the candidacy if she decides not to support it. Toronto officials past year also decided against a 2024 bid.

Renzi had launched the Olympic bid even though Rome at the time found itself at the centre of a series of public corruption scandals that came to be known as Mafia Capitale, raising questions about whether it could pull off a “clean” Olympics.

Earlier on Wednesday, Malago was part of a CONI delegation which left City Hall after Raggi was 35 minutes late for a post-Rio meeting.

Rome previously withdrew from the running for the 2020 Games. The budget had been projected at 5.3 billion euros ($6 billion) – 2.1 billion euros for the construction of permanent venues and the balance for temporary venues.

Los Angeles stepped in for Boston which lacked political and financial support. Despite her frequent delays and flip-flopping on the issue, she said that this has always been her position.