Turin 2006 Supervisor Mario Pescante announced that the government will pass an amendment that should give the Turin 2006 Winter Games the last batch of money needed for the 2006 Games.
He said, “We have formulated some proposals, including suggestions on how they can be financed. We don’t have many days, but I hope this affair can be considered closed”.
A solution may be a “Gratta e Vinci” (scratch card) with a government amendment to a tax decree linked to the Budget Law. The special lottery would give the Olympics the last 30 million euros of the 160 million promised to fix the shortfall in Turin’s 2006 budget eliminating any cuts.
Another amendment already drafted states that the Olympics should be given a 16 million euro cut because of a “technical error” in the Budget Law.
Meanwhile the main sports arena for the Turin Games is to be named “Grande Torino” after a great Turin soccer team killed in an air crash in 1949. Pescante said he approved the name with great enthusiasm.
Also, Turin 2006 organizers have cancelled the dismissal of two top executives, Marcello Pochettino, former vice director general of Turin 2006 and Paolo Rota, TOROC’s former chief executive officer, who were fired in March during a row that disrupted Turin 2006 Games preparations.
Rota was fired a few weeks after he suspended Pochettino, as organizers struggled with budget, housing and transportation issues, reports the Associated Press.
Separate statements from Turin 2006 confirmed that both dismissals had been withdrawn and expressed appreciation for the work done by the officials. Once the dispute had been resolved the two men agreed to “end their working relationship” with TOROC, said the statements.
