"I have finished preparing a proposed rule to regulate candidacies for major international events for which financial resources are requested from the Government".
This was announced by the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, in a note, after the case that arose around Rome's candidacy, then withdrawn, for the 2027 World Athletics Championships. "This experience must be useful for future opportunities - adds the minister - because we want major sporting events in Italy for all they can offer, but they must discuss it first and according to a protocol that applies to everyone".
After the outburst of Stefano Mei, president of Fidal, to ANSA, Minister Abodi explains how "to those who ask me to reply to today's statements I respond politely through the statement I wrote yesterday".
Then again: "On the other hand, we are still working for the European Championships in June, through Sport and Health, to guarantee a quality event and an economic result with limited losses. If there had been a more respectful attitude towards procedures, times and the problems that the Government is facing in the general interest, perhaps we would have had some more opportunities to compete with Beijing which, moreover, had a budget 40% higher than Rome. I would also have liked to return to the Olympic Stadium in Rome for the World Cup, as I did in 1987, but with inadequate demands and language you won't get anywhere."
Returning instead to the preparation of the proposed rule to regulate large events that require government financial resources, he then specified: "Those who do not need public resources will be free to do, in compliance with the laws, what they deem most appropriate".
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