Olympics: Rome Mayor to announce whether she supports city's bid for 2024 Games

Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi gestures during a news conference in Rome, Italy on June 20, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

AFP - Rome's Mayor Virginia Raggi is set to announce today (Wednesday) whether she supports the Italian capital's bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

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 Raggi's backing.

Raggi has made it clear she does not regard the Olympic bid as a good idea for the cash-strapped city, but has stopped short of saying she will not back it.

The mayor, who took office in June, was seen by most pundits as simply waiting for the end of the Paralympics in Rio to announce that City Hall will not be supporting the bid, which would ruin its chances of success.

Rome, which hosted the 1960 Olympics, is one of four candidates to host the 2024 Games, along with Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles.

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