If Rome wins the right to
host the 2024 Olympics, the games will boost Italy's GDP by an
average of 0.4% a year and generate 177,000 new jobs, according
to a dossier presented by the bid committee and the Italian
Olympic Committee (CONI) on Wednesday.
The dossier, an 'economic assessment of the Rome 2024
Olympic and Paralympic Games' which was delivered to the
International Olympic Committee, estimated the event would
generate gross domestic product growth of over 2.4% in the
2017-2023 period.
Rome's bid for the 2024 Olympics, if successful, will lead
to the "biggest celebration of sport," bid panel head Luca di
Montezomolo said.
"There's a theme at the centre of the project: the Italian
art of welcoming, the capacity of spreading around the quality
of life in our country," added former Ferrari and Fiat chief
Montezemolo, now president of Alitalia, who was named chair of
the bidding committee a year ago.
Rome hosted the 1960 Olympics and carried off a largely
successful edition of the World Swimming Championships in 2009.
Many of the required sports facilities are up and running
and would only need upgrading.
These include the Stadio Olimpico, which has a running
track for athletics.
The dossier said the bid is based on three sports 'poles',
the Foro Italico that includes the Stadio Olimpico, Tor Vergata
and the Fiera di Roma trade fair complex.
It said the costs would amount to relatively low 5.3
billion euros, compared to 13 billion envisioned in Rome's
aborted bid for the 2020 Games.
However, with event expected to generate 2.1 billion
euros, the net cost would be 2.1 billion.
"We may be out by a few hundred euros in the 3.2 billion
euro estimate, but we are effectively presenting a
2.1-billion-euro budget for the cost of creating permanent
facilities," CONI President Giovanni Malagò said.
"It's the lowest budget in the history of the Games".
Malagò added that legendary Italian composer Ennio
Morricone will create the "soundtrack" for the bid.
He also guaranteed that Rome's Stadio Flaminio will be
saved by CONI if the Italian capital's bid for the 2024 Olympics
is successful.
The historic ground has fallen into a state of disrepair
since the Italian national rugby team stopped using it as the
venue for its home Six Nations games in 2011.
"The Flaminio is a wound for the city," Malagò said. "Who
does not want to get back this marvellous stadium, full of
history? Let's hope that we don't have to wait until September
2017 (when the 2024 Olympic venue is announced) to sort out the
situation of the ground. But if we were to win the Olympics, we
promise to resolve it".
According to the bid plan, the Flaminio will host rugby
sevens and modern pentathlon events.
President Sergio Mattarella said Rome's bid is a massive
challenge that can turn into a boon for economic growth like the
1960 games in the capital were.
"Just like the 1960 Olympics represented an important step
in Italy's economic and social development, my hope is that the
2024 Olympics can be a crossroads for new growth distinguished
by quality and sustainability," he wrote in a letter to the bid
committee.
"Rome's bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
is a challenge for the country's planning abilities, testing
vision, quality and resources"
Rome is up against competition from Paris, Los Angeles and
Budapest for the 2024 games.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
