POSTED: April 19th 2011
NewsUpdate
Roma 2020: CONI launches London plans for Casa Italia at 2012 Games
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications
TAMPA/ROME, Apr 19: The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) is well known for its Casa Italia hospitality house at every Olympic Games. For London 2012 it will not disappoint.
Next year it will be pulling out all the stops hosting guests and VIPS at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, a six-floor 6,000sq/m. facility facing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament. It can also cater for 21,000 people at one time and include picture-window views and high-level technology.
The locale will serve as a major destination enabling the Rome 2020 bid to host key IOC members and elite members of the Olympic Movement.
CONI President Gianni Petrucci said: “It is the best and the most attractive one we have ever done, both for its position and for what it represents. It is prestigious, beautiful and modern.”
The building was also chosen for another reason: it is easily accessible for the disabled and will also be in function during the Paralympics which follow the Games.
Raffaele Pagnozzi, the CONI secretary-general said: “The complete absence of architectural obstacles will allow the Paralympic Committee to have a prestigious and functional showcase.
“The price is in line with what we spent at Bejing 2008 when CONI paid around €1.1m. Four years later we are paying an amount equivalent to approximately €1.2m. If we include the Paralympic Games period we will go up to around €1.5 to €1.6m.”
Luca Pancalli, president of the Italian Paralympic committee thanked CONI, saying: “We are proud to be hosted in this prestigious building, the fact that this important landmark is also our “house” is extraordinary news, a significant message. We are the first country to do this, and for us it means a lot because it gives us even more dignity and visibility.”
CONI was the first NOC to launch a hospitality house, during the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, to set a trend which has been extended at every Games since.
Keywords · London 2012 · Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre · CONI
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