D-day for Rome's candidacy for the 2024 Games. In all likelihood, the mayor of the capital, lawyer Virginia Raggi, will announce this Wednesday, September 21, at the beginning of the afternoon, her decision as to whether or not to continue of the Italian Olympic and Paralympic adventure. Several national media, including the daily The print, thought they knew that the leader of the 5 Star Movement would wait until the weekend. It was even suggested, before the Rio Games, that she wanted to meet Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister, in October before making a final decision.

The announcement by the mayor of Rome must take place during a press conference organized at City Hall. Its communications department announced that the subject would be the Olympic candidacy. The end of the suspense. It was time.

What will Virginia Raggi say? In Italy, many media are anticipating a negative response to the continuation of the candidacy. All the indicators, for several weeks, have tipped the scales towards “no”. According to the daily The messenger, continuing the adventure would place her in opposition to at least 12 of her deputies at the town hall of Rome. It would also go against the wishes of the leader of his own party, Beppe Grillo, who recently assured without nuance: “The Olympic Games in Rome? No thanks! »

On the other hand, sticking to her position of hostility at the Olympics would put her in difficulty with the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, a fierce supporter of Rome 2024. Virginia Raggi would also trigger a conflict with the Italian Olympic movement. Giovanni Malagò (photo above, with Virginia Raggi), the president of CONI, repeated it again in recent days: stopping the candidacy less than a year before the vote would constitute “a defeat for sport, a monstrous stupidity for Italy's credibility. » As a reminder, Rome had already thrown in the towel in the middle of the campaign for the 2020 Summer Games. The Prime Minister at the time, Mario Monti, had stopped the costs in 2012, citing an economic situation incompatible with such a project.

The messenger understands that Virginia Raggi met during the day of Tuesday, September 20 with her deputy Daniele Fongia, to put a final and definitive point on the city's position on the Olympic candidacy. She would also have planned to call Giovanni Malagò on the phone to officially announce her decision, before communicating it to the media during her press conference.

The only certainty: a firm and definitive “no” from the Rome town hall would sound the death knell for the candidacy. Giovanni Malago and Matteo Renzi have never hidden it: continuing the adventure without the agreement of the mayor of the capital would amount to heading straight into the wall. To keep intact the chances currently considered reduced, the Italian project must move forward as a group.

A withdrawal from the Roman case would not only constitute a blow to its Italian Olympic movement. It would also appear to be a failure for the IOC. The latest campaign, for the Winter Games in 2022, was reduced to two candidates, both Asian, Beijing and Almaty. A three-way race for the Summer Olympics in 2024 would not be the best effect for an IOC waiting for a second wind. It would demonstrate the little impact on the political class and the general public of the reforms of Agenda 2020.