Rome mayor to decide on city's 2024 Olympics bid

New Rome mayor Virginia Raggi is set to announce Wednesday whether she supports the Italian capital's bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

Giovanni Malago, the president of Italy's Olympic Committee, said last week the committee would abandon its bid to have Rome host the Games should it not get the Raggi's backing.

Raggi has made it clear she does not regard the Olympic bid a good idea for the cash-strapped city, but has stopped short of saying she will not back it.

The mayor, who took office in June, is seen by most pundits as simply waiting for the end of the Paralympics in Rio to announce that City Hall will not be supporting the bid, which would scupper its chances of success.

She is due to give a press conference at 1330 GMT.

Rome, which hosted the 1960 Olympics, is one of four candidates to host the 2024 Games, along with Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles.