After the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) formally ended their bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games on Monday, officials has pledged to continue the development of the Rome Open.
Speaking to the media in a press conference, the head of CONI is confident that the main court of the Foro Italico will have a roof constructed by 2019 in a bid to keep the Masters 1000 event in the city. Giovanni Malago set out his plans after this year’s Rome Open, which is a combined ATP/WTA event, was heavily disrupted by the rain.
“In the Park of the Foro Italico Park, it is planned for a roof on Center court by 2019 otherwise (the tournament will) risk disqualification by the ATP due to changes to the criteria of Masters 1000 and it could go elsewhere.” Malago said.
Malago’s pledge comes hours after the Italian Olympic committee suffered embarrassment when they was forced to withdraw their candidacy for the 2024 Olympic Games. Once a strong contender to host the four-year event, the bid failed due to opposition from the newly elected mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi. Raggi has argued that the city must tackle their financial deficit first before staging a major event. A viewpoint that has been heavily criticised by pro 2024 supporters who argued it could have generated investment for the city.
In light of losing their Olympic battle, Italian officials will continue with their planned development of facilities in the area, one of which is the Fioro Italiano. Next year the Grandstand arena at the venue will have the seating capacity increased from 4000 to 5,550 seats.
‘Since we will not host the 2024 Olympics, it’s clear that we will have to review our commitments and strategies in terms of development and of sports installation. One of them will be the roof on the Central Court by 2019,‘ Malago said when asked about future plans for the city.
The Italian Open was founded in 1930 and has been hosted annually in Rome since 1987. Since 2009 the clay court event has been classified as a Masters tournament for the men and a Premier tournament for the women with a combined prize money pool of almost $7 million. Andy Murray and Serena Williams are the current champions.
