Rome 2024 bid suffers blow with election of anti-Games mayor
by Tom Walker | 20 Jun 2016
Rome's new mayor, Virginia Raggi, is a member of the anti-establishment MoVimento Cinque Stelle / Fabio Frustaci/AP/Press Association
The election of an anti-Olympic mayor in Rome could scupper the Italian capital city’s hopes of securing the 2024 summer Games.
Virginia Raggi is a member of the anti-establishment MoVimento Cinque Stelle (Five Star Movement) party and, in the run up to the election, repeatedly outlined her opposition to the Olympic and Paralympic bid.
While the bid has already received the backing of the Rome city council and the central government, Raggi now has the powers to abandon the bid – or call a referendum and let the public decide the bid’s fate.
During the election campaign, Raggi said her priority – if elected – would be to "solve economic and political problems which blight our great city" and suggested an Olympic bid could lead to the re-emergence of corruption.
Rome is one of four official bid cities for the 2024 Games, with Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles making up the quartet. Rome’s bid was confirmed by prime minister Matteo Renzi in December 2014.
• Earlier this month, Rome – alongside the other bid cities – made it through to the second round of the bid process following an International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting.
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The election of an anti-Olympic mayor in Rome could scupper the Italian capital city’s hopes of securing the 2024 summer Games. Virginia Raggi is a member of the anti-establishment MoVimento Cinque Stelle (Five Star Movement) party and, in the run up to the election, repeatedly outlined her opposition to the Olympic and Paralympic bid. While the bid has already received the backing of the Rome city council and the central
SAR
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"Culture is the beating heart of this project"
Designed to restore neglected land and renew the identity of Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad Sustainable Forests promises a new way of living surrounded by nature. Gensler’s Ian Mulcahay tells us why he thinks the project could become a model for the repair and enhancement of urban centres
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