Rome yesterday joined Boston and Hamburg becoming the 3rd city to abandon plans to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Mayor Virginia Raggi’s election in June was based on a number of issues including a commitment to end plans to bid for the Games.
The proposed €5.3 billion budget will now be used for 'other' projects.
Raggi cited the fact that Rome is still supposedly paying for the Olympics it hosted in 1960! Three cities still remain in the race Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris. So long as there is more than one the power rests with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
I wonder will other cities and countries follow Rome's move...
Andrew Zimbalist Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup provides an excellent analysis of the economic costs and benefits of this and similar mega-sporting events.