(ANSA) - Rome, November 11 - The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Wednesday formally quashed Bari's hopes of bidding for the 2020 Olympics, confirming Rome and Venice as the contestants to become Italy's bidder.

In a letter to the mayor of the southern Adriatic city, Michele Emiliano, CONI chief Gianni Petrucci said Bari did not have the requisites to mount a bid.

He pointed out that CONI had already tried to make this clear last month when it ruled out Palermo.

Despite this, Emiliano wrote to CONI earlier this week confirming the southeastern city wanted to launch a bid.

In his letter back, Petrucci said "the mere intention of organising the Games" was not enough and any application had to be made according to the "essential, basic conditions laid down by the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Charter".

When he dismissed Palermo's chances two weeks ago, Petrucci said ''Rome and Venice are the only serious bidders, all the rest is just so much talk''.

Rome's conservative mayor, Gianni Alemanno, on Wednesday said one of his centre-left predecessors, Francesco Rutelli, had come on board to help the Italian capital's bid.

Alemanno, a member of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said Rutelli, who ran Rome from 1993 to 2001, could bring "priceless experience" to the effort since he had led Rome's bid in the late '90s for the 2004 Olympics.

On that occasion, Rome was narrowly beaten by Athens. Rome and Venice immediately come forward after the 2016 Games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro on October 2, saying they would like to host the following edition.

Bari and Palermo then expressed the same ambition, along with Milan, which has since withdrawn its bid.

Petrucci's blast on October 28 came a few days after one of Italy's most prestigious sports officials, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President Mario Pescante, said he was pessimistic that Italy could stage a credible bid for the 2020 Games.

''We're getting to the point where it's beyond a joke.

Bids are being made just out of local pride, just to get people talking''.

''We're our own worst enemies,'' said the IOC VP, a former Italian sports minister.

Pescante stressed the importance of Italy quickly establishing which could the best bidder so that the whole country could support it.

''Once we've decided on the candidate we have to get solidly behind it,'' he said.

But according to the IOC official, any Italian bidder is ''not favourite'' in a race which could feature Brisbane, Prague, Copenhagen, Budapest, Delhi, Mumbai, Mexico City, Auckland, Warsaw, Cape Town, St Petersburg, Taipei, Detroit, Philadelphia and Saint Paul/Minneapolis.

Bids must be presented by the end of 2011 and the winner will be announced in 2013.

Rome hosted the Games in 1960 while Venice, at first glance an unlikely site, has never staged a major international sporting event.

photo: Petrucci