Rome's new mayor, Virginia Raggi, "pulled the plug on the city's bid to host the 2024 Olympics, saying staging the summer games would bury the Italian capital under mountains of debt and tonnes of cement," according to Crispian Balmer of REUTERS. The decision represents a blow to the IOC, "which has already seen Boston and Hamburg abandon their 2024 bids, and is struggling to convince potential host cities that it is worth putting on the sporting extravaganza" (REUTERS, 9/21). REUTERS' Gavin Jones wrote Raggi "was elected in June, after Rome had already formed a bid committee" with the support of PM Matteo Renzi. Its withdrawal would leave only Paris, L.A. and Budapest in the bidding, "with the U.S. city firming as frontrunner." Boston "pulled out over financial concerns and the residents of Hamburg voted against the city's bid in a referendum." The 5-Star Movement "had always voiced doubts about staging the sporting spectacular, but the Rome bid team and Italy's Olympic committee had held out hopes of changing Raggi's mind." Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) President Giovanni Malagò has said that "the bid would fail without the city council's backing" (REUTERS, 9/21). INSIDE THE GAMES' Dan Palmer wrote during her press conference, Raggi "claimed that past host cities have been left with financial problems, a point she highlighted using a big screen." Raggi, who claimed the city was still paying back debts from the Games it hosted in '60, said, "We want to escape the big events that bring money and debts. We want something more for Rome, 70 percent of citizens said no to the Games. ... The Olympics are a dream turning into a nightmare -- a blank cheque signed by host cities, as shown by an Oxford University study." Rome 2024 officials and CONI "had desperately been hoping to persuade Raggi to change her mind, with talks planned for after the Rio 2016 Paralympics, which ended on Sunday (September 18)." However, it was reported on Wednesday that a Rome 2024 delegation, led by Malagò, "walked out of City Hall after Raggi was 35 minutes late for a meeting this morning." Malagò said, "We waited but nobody turned up" (INSIDE THE GAMES, 9/21).
