According to a poll released by Italian think tank CENSIS, 51.9 per cent of Romans support their city’s bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The same poll reveals that only 32.5 per cent in the Province of Rome are against the bid that remains precariously in a race among Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris.
Rome 2024 organizers face an October 7 International Olympic Committee (IOC) deadline to win the Mayor’s support, but newly elected Virginia Raggi won her election on an anti-Olympic bid platform and seems committed to reforms that will see city funds focused on fundamental infrastructure and services instead of preparing for an Olympic Games.
On Monday Raggi reportedly agreed to meet with Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) President Giovanni Malago at the end of the Paralympic Games that are set to open in Rio de Janeiro later this week to discuss Rome’s bid. She expects to make a decision in September.
Raggi also has the option of pushing for a referendum over the bid as the Italian Radical Party is already collecting the 30,000 signatures required to move a vote forward, but it seems unlikely that the aggressive mayor will allow the decision to be made of the control of her elected mandate.
The IOC will elect a winner September 13, 2017 in Lima, Peru.
