Malagò says 13 million spent on aborted Rome Olympic bid

(ANSA) - Rome, October 18 - Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) President Giovanni Malagò said Tuesday that 13 million euros was spent on Rome's aborted bid to host the 2024 Olympics.
    CONI wrote to the International Olympic Committee to end the bid last week after new Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), withdrew the city's support for it in September.
    "The Rome 2024 bid process stopped this week," Malagò told Radio 24.
    "Around 13 million euros was spent. Expenditure that cannot be recovered". He said the idea of a 'Plan B,' such as switching the bid to another Italian city, was not pursued, even though it would have been technically possible.
    "Rome's withdrawal compromised other Italian bids," he said. "The IOC has become diffident towards the Italian political world and those who have changed their mind".
    Former Italian Premier Mario Monti also sank a bid for Rome to host the 2020 Olympics.
    However, Malagò did not rule out a Milan bid for the 2028 Games, if the 2024 Olympics do not go to either of the two European bidders, Paris and Budapest, but to Los Angeles.