Italy government scuppers Rome 2020 bid

ROME - Rome was forced to drop its bid for the 2020 Olympic Games on Tuesday following Italian Premier Mario Monti announced that his government would not provide the requested guarantee for the capital's ambitious campaign.

Monti announced after a cabinet meeting that the government has to be responsible for the taxpayers.

"After careful consideration, this government has reached the unanimous decision that, given the current economic climate, we believe it would be irresponsible to assume such a guarantee in Italy's current condition," he said.

"We don't feel it would be wise to make such a financial commitment now, as it could jeopardize Italy's financial situation in the upcoming years. Had these been more prosperous times, we would have been more than willing to take the risk, but, today, no," he said.

The decision came a day before the deadline for formal submission of bid files to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC requires government financial guarantees from bid cities.

Gianni Petrucci, president of national Olympic body CONI, could not hide his disappointment at the government's decision.

"We've lost a tremendous opportunity. But we've no choice but to accept the government's decision. I'm very sad," he said. "The decision took a lot of time to weigh up and was made purely on economic grounds. Our project was an extremely serious one, but the government was absolutely steadfast on the financial aspect."