Italy's Olympic Committee withdrew from the race to host the Olympic Games 2024 in Rome, after the city's mayor refused to back the bid. The refusal made the officials look like "fools", Committee chief Malago said.
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"Today the game is over." Olympic Committee chief Giovanni Malago (pictured above) told the AP news agency on Tuesday, after pulling the plug on the candidacy.
"It's a big wound for us. I hope they realize how bad an impression we've made," he added, referring to the Rome's city council that had voted against the initiative.
Italy's bid to host the 2024 Games in Rome was launched before the current mayor, Virginia Raggi, took office earlier this year. Raggi, from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, already dismissed the push as "irresponsible" for a city struggling with lack of money and weak public services.
"Olympic Games are a dream which at a certain point turn into a nightmare," she said.
'Saddest day'
Malago, in turn, praised the project as a chance to update the city's infrastructure and create 177,000 jobs. The national government and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi also endorsed the bid.
However, the opposition from the Rome's city council eventually forced Malago to pull out of the race.
"This is the saddest day of my presidency," visibly upset Malago told reporters on Tuesday.
"Do you realize what fools we have made of ourselves at an international level?"
Three cities still in the race
Theoretically, Italy might revive its initiative if the there was a new majority in Rome's city council, but the sports official did not hold out much hope.
The cancellation from Rome comes after Boston also dropped out and citizens of Hamburg voted to withdraw the bid late last year. The International Olympic Committee still has to choose between Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest for 2024.
The 2020 games will be held in Japan's capital, Tokyo. Some city officials warn that the costs could exceed $30 billion (27.1 billion euro) putting the final price tag at more than four times of the original estimate.
How sports venues have inspired artists
Stadiums, fields and swimming pools have often served as muses for filmmakers, painters and writers. Some have left the focus on the sport, while others have turned the venues into backdrops for comedies or psychodramas.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Ansprach
Architecture: Soweto's Soccer City
Football stadiums pose a particular challenge to architects. With its 95,000 seats, Africa's largest stadium is located in the Soweto district of Johannesburg in South Africa. It's known as Soccer City. With a bit of imagination, the stadium is reminiscent of a traditional African gourd used for drinking. The venue was built in 1989, but underwent a two-year renovation ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Ansprach
Theater: 'Terror' by Ferdinand von Schirach
The plot: There are 70,000 fans in a stadium. A passenger plane, overtaken by terrorists, is headed straight for the site. Just before the collision, the airplane is shot down by the German military. All 164 passengers are killed, but the 70,000 fans are saved. Will the military pilot who shot down the plane be charged in court? At the end of the play, the audience decides for themselves.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Hupfeld
Painting: 'Soccer field Schalke 04' by Friedrich G. Einhoff
In 1932, 70,000 Schalke fans gathered at their local stadium in the middle of Germany's industrial Ruhr region. Einhoff captured the moment on canvas. From 1920 to 1933, he painted hundreds of local studies, giving a touch of color to the gray backdrop of the coal and steel heartland. The Nazis deemed his works "degenerate." Now, the LVR Industrial Museum in Oberhausen features a large collection.
Image: LVR-Industriemuseum
Film: 'The Swimming Pool' by Jacques Deray
It's an erotic thriller set under the sun on the Côte d'Azur. Romy Schneider and Alain Delon play a couple who receive a visit from a friend and his beautiful daughter in their luxurious vacation home. Behind the facade of friendship, hate and jealousy develop - resulting in a murder in the pool. The film is a psychodrama set against a gorgeous backdrop.
Image: picture alliance/United Archiv
Murder mystery: 'Breaking Point' by Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova, one of the most successful tennis players of all time, dedicated herself to writing crime stories after retiring from the court. Along with Liz Nickles, she invented the professional tennis player and sleuth Jordan Myles, who constantly finds herself embroiled in murder cases. It's not highbrow literature, but it offers interesting behind-the-scenes insights.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb/M. Rosi
Board game: 'Blue kicks off!'
After World War II, it was difficult to play soccer in Germany. Many men had been killed or were prisoners of war, and football clubs had been disbanded due to their Nazi ties. Soccer fields were used for other purposes - like planting crops. Instead of kicking the ball, friends would gather to play board games. This one, pictured in 1947, was also available in English for the Allies.
Image: LVR-Industriemuseum
Sci-fi: 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' by Steven Spielberg
This famous scene from the1982 film represented nothing less than the birth of the BMX hype. When scientists chase after Elliott, who has the tiny alien tucked into the basket on his bike, and his friends, E.T. uses his powers to help them fly. The film "BMX Bandits" starring Nicole Kidman picked up on the trend the following year.
Image: picture-alliance/KPA
Photography: 'Synchronized Swords' by Laci Perényi
Sport photographer Laci Perényi strives to capture more than just a moment. A former swimmer himself, he spent years photographing major sporting events worldwide. Besides his natural talent for catching just the right moment, he also tries to inject his sense of aesthetics into his images. The one he's standing with - "Synchronized Swords" - was named Sport Photo of the Year in 2012.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Galuschka
Live-action animation: 'Space Jam' by Joe Pytka
In the 1996 film that mixes Looney Tunes cartoons with live action, Bugs Bunny pays a visit to basketball legend Michael Jordan, who has recently retired. The Looney Tunes gang is being threatened by a bunch of aliens, which have turned themselves into monsters. Jordan trains the cartoon characters and prepares them for their big decisive game with the "Monstars."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner
Literature: 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway's short novel about the struggle between an old Cuban fisherman and an indestructible marlin could stand for the story of extreme swimmer Diana Nyad. It took 36 years and five painstaking attempts for her to swim from Cuba to Florida - which she finally managed at the age of 64. The 170-kilometer (106-mile) route took 52 hours. She started at Havana's Ernest Hemingway Nautical Club.