导出博客文章ROME -- Irresponsible, unsustainable and unaffordable.Refusing to put up with
more debt in a city besieged by corruption and poor public services, Mayor
Virginia Raggi rejected Romes bid for the 2024 Olympics on Wednesday,
effectively dooming the capitals candidacy for the second time in four
years.This city is unlivable, Raggi said in a news conference at city hall atop
ancient Capitoline Hill. We need to focus on that.We have a much more ambitious
project for Rome than the one for the 2024 Games, Raggi added. We want to
upgrade the services, give back to citizens a city that is as worthy as any
other European capital.If approved by Romes city assembly, Raggis motion to
withdraw the bid would leave only Los Angeles, Paris and Budapest, Hungary, in
the running for the 2024 Games. The International Olympic Committee will decide
on the host city in September 2017.Raggis rejection comes after then-Premier
Mario Monti stopped Romes plans to bid for the 2020 Olympics because of
financial concerns.Weve lost all credibility, if we pull out, Italian Olympic
Committee president Giovanni Malago said, ruling out an eventual bid for the
2028 Games, even from another Italian city. Because theyll think people in Italy
are not serious.Raggi said it would be financially irresponsible to pursue the
bid any further given the city is barely able to get its trash picked up. She
highlighted the debts that previous Olympic host cities have incurred and the
unfinished infrastructure already blighting Rome from previous sporting bids as
reasons to justify the withdrawal.In light of the data we have, these Olympics
are not sustainable. They will bring only debt, she said. We dont want sports to
become another pretext for more cement foundations in the city. We wont allow
it.Raggi drew up a motion to withdraw the bid Wednesday and put it before the
city assembly, which has the final say. There was no immediate word if and when
the council would take it up.Malago said the committee would continue working on
the bid in the absence of a formal vote, noting the next dossier must be
submitted to the IOC on Oct. 7.If theres no formal act, we can continue, he
said. They cant just declare it in a news conference.Indeed, rival cities werent
ready to count Rome out altogether.There is no confirmation that Rome has
departed from the 2024 race and as such it is not appropriate for us to offer
any comment except to wish our Italian colleagues well during this period of
difficult time, the Budapest Olympic committee said.Raggi, a 38-year-old lawyer
who is Romes first female mayor, was elected in June representing the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.The Rome bid was approved by the city
assembly last year with 38 votes in favor and only six against -- meaning Raggi
will have to put the issue up for another vote to officially end the
candidacy.The IOC requires bidders to have support from the government and
city.Previous Mayor Ignazio Marino, who was forced out over an expense account
scandal, had supported the bid. And Premier Matteo Renzi has been a big fan of
the candidacy since he helped launch it in 2014. He has said the bid would be
doomed if Romes mayor doesnt support it.A budget of 24 million euros ($27
million) has already been allotted -- much of it spent -- to the bid committee,
even though candidacy head Luca Cordero di Montezemolo has no salary.Raggis
rejection was another stinging blow for the IOCs Olympic Agenda 2020 program,
which was designed to make bidding for and hosting the games more flexible and
more affordable.Rome was able to bid only after the IOC changed its rules with
Agenda 2020 and reduced the costs of putting together a candidacy, Malago
said.The bid had been slated to be centered around Romes historic monuments: a
cycling sprint alongside the Roman Forum, beach volleyball at the Circus Maximus
and the marathon passing through St. Peters Square and finishing under the Arch
of Constantine. Plus, a nightly parade of athletes at the Colosseum.Relying on
many venues that were used for the 1960 Olympics in Rome, the candidacy proposed
using existing structures for 70 percent of the required sites. 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.The
withdrawal is another clear signal that the IOC still has a lot of work to do to
convince cities that hosting the games is a boon and not a burden.Voters in
Hamburg rejected the German citys 2024 bid in a referendum. Boston also dropped
out last year amid a lack of public and political support and was replaced by
Los Angeles.Its very upsetting, Rome bid vice president Luca Pancalli said. Its
like we started a race and someone gets out of the pool in the middle of the
race and says were not racing any longer.---Andrew Dampf on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/asdampf
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