Much to the disappointment of rival Venice, by a vote of 68 to 1, the CONI committee selected Rome as the Italian city that will bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. According to the CONI report, ‘Venice did not reach the points threshold laid down by the International Olympic Committee.’
Rome’s bid, which includes a budget of about 80 million euro, offers the use of already existing venues.
The bid is centred on two central areas in Rome: the Foro Italico where the 80,000-seat Stadio Olimpico is located; and a new sports centre currently under construction in the Tor Vergata area.
Rome, which hosted the Olympics in 1960 and lost the bid for the 2004 Summer Games to Athens, will be presented as a formal candidate to the International Olympic Committee, which will decide the host city in 2013 in Buenos Aires.
Other cities considering a bid for the 2020 Summer Games are Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town, South Africa; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Tokyo and Hiroshima, Japan; Istanbul; and Budapest, Hungary.
