Italy wants the Summer Olympics again: Rome targets 2036, CONI increasingly seriously considering 2040
Just a few months after the end of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Italy is once again turning its attention to the world's biggest sporting event, this time with the ambition of bringing the Summer Olympic Games back to the country. At the center of the discussion is Rome, host of the 1960 Games, but there is still no unified position on whether to make an attempt as early as 2036 or build a longer-term bid for 2040. According to current information published by Inside the Games, Rome authorities are advocating an earlier attempt, while the leadership of the Italian National Olympic Committee, CONI, is increasingly seriously assessing whether 2040 could offer a more favorable international moment. The key issue is not only sporting, but also political and financial: the Italian government has not yet provided final guarantees and, before making a decision, wants an assessment of the sustainability of the entire project. In addition, the International Olympic Committee has changed the host selection procedure and introduced deadlines that leave interested countries relatively little time to prepare if they want to remain in the race for 2036.
Rome wants to capitalize on the momentum after Milano Cortina
The idea of bringing the Olympic Games back to Rome gained strength after Milano Cortina 2026, which Italian sports officials presented as proof that the country can organize a logistically extremely complex event across a large number of locations. After the Winter Games ended, CONI highlighted the organizational performance of the competition, while president Luciano Buonfiglio said as early as February that Italy deserved new Summer Olympic Games, noting that a bid could not be pursued without an agreement with the national government. The Associated Press also reported at the time an assessment by IOC president Kirsty Coventry that Milano Cortina had set a very high standard, which further encouraged discussion in Italy about a new Olympic project. Rome has one major advantage in this respect: a significant portion of the key sports infrastructure already exists, including Stadio Olimpico and the Foro Italico complex. Reusing existing facilities is precisely one of the elements through which the Italian side could try to demonstrate that future Games would not require disproportionately expensive construction of entirely new venues.
Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri had already publicly opened the door to a bid at the beginning of the year, recalling that the capital had managed an exceptionally large influx of visitors and a large number of international events during the 2025 Jubilee. The Associated Press reported his view that Rome should not shy away from major challenges if the Olympic project is assessed as realistic and if there is cooperation with the government, CONI and the IOC. In the meantime, the city has continued to present major sporting competitions as part of a broader portfolio that could help with an Olympic bid. At the end of May, during the presentation of the Skateboarding World Cup in Rome, Buonfiglio directly said, according to ANSA, that Milano Cortina and other international competitions were proof of the country's organizational capabilities and mentioned the possibility of the 2036 Games being distributed between Rome and Naples. In this way, an idea that was initially focused mainly on Rome acquired a broader, multi-city framework.
Rome-Naples could become Italy's main project
The possibility of a joint Rome and Naples bid fits into the more recent Olympic trend of reducing the need to concentrate all competitions within a single city. After the Milano Cortina experience, where competitions were held at multiple locations in northern Italy, some Italian officials believe that the Summer Games could also use a model in which existing infrastructure is combined with targeted investment. In May, Buonfiglio explicitly mentioned Rome and Naples as a possible tandem for 2036, and such an approach would allow sports to be distributed according to existing venues and transport capacities. However, no official bid dossier, final venue map or confirmed financial model has yet been published. As a result, the project remains in the phase of political and institutional development rather than being a formally completed bid.
Additional complexity comes from the fact that Rome is not the only Italian project seeking to enter the discussion. At the beginning of July, ANSA reported a statement by then Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala that work should continue on a possible Milan, Turin and Genoa bid for 2036, although he acknowledged that there was a serious Rome, or rather Rome-Naples, initiative. Ideas of a bid involving Venice and the wider northeastern region had also appeared earlier. This shows that Italy has not yet reached a stage in which there is only one officially selected national option. For the IOC, however, in later stages of the process Italy would have to present a clearly structured project with confirmed political support, financial guarantees and a precise distribution of responsibilities.
Why CONI is increasingly looking toward 2040
The key difference between Rome's ambition and CONI's more cautious approach concerns the assessment of international competition. According to Inside the Games, 2040 is increasingly viewed in Italian sporting circles as a more realistic target, while Rome wants to make an attempt as early as the 2036 edition. Such a calculation does not mean that 2036 has been rejected: during the spring, Buonfiglio repeatedly spoke specifically about that year and emphasized that Italy is capable of organizing the Games. However, the host selection for 2036 is expected to be extremely competitive, and several countries are already at different stages of dialogue or national preparation. In such an environment, the Italian project would have to move very quickly from a political idea to a technically and financially developed bid.
Qatar officially announced in July 2025 that it was participating in continuous dialogue with the IOC for the 2036 Games and claims that it already has the vast majority of the necessary venues. In June 2026, the German Olympic Sports Confederation, DOSB, announced that Berlin, Cologne/Rhine-Ruhr and Munich had submitted final national concepts for possible editions in 2036, 2040 or 2044, confirming that Germany too is seriously developing a project. In June, the IOC stated that before reforming the process it had spoken with more than ten potentially interested parties for 2036 and later editions, while international media continuously list India among the most prominent options as well. For Italy, therefore, the decisive issue is not only the quality of its own project, but also an assessment of the geopolitical landscape, continental rotation, the level of state support and the maturity of competing bids.
The symbolism also favors 2040: that year would mark 80 years since the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, the only Summer Olympic Games held in Italy. In addition, the country hosted the Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956, Turin in 2006 and Milano Cortina in 2026. This continuity gives Italy extensive organizational experience, but at the same time it may influence strategic thinking about when the best moment for a new attempt would be. If the 2036 hosting rights were awarded to another European project, for example a German one, this could change Rome's position in the race for 2040; if 2036 went to another continent, a European bid four years later could find itself in a different geographical context. That is precisely why CONI is avoiding reducing the decision solely to the wishes of one city.
The government wants the numbers before signing guarantees
The most important obstacle to an Italian bid at this stage is not the choice of stadiums but the political and financial confirmation of the project. Inside the Games reports that the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni currently does not want to provide final financial guarantees before receiving a serious assessment of economic sustainability. Sports and Youth Minister Andrea Abodi and Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti are expected to play important roles in talks anticipated in September. Such caution has a clear historical background: over the past three decades, Rome has repeatedly attempted or considered bidding for the Summer Games, but the projects did not result in hosting rights. The Associated Press recalls that Rome lost the race for 2004 to Athens, that then Prime Minister Mario Monti halted the bid for 2020 in 2012 because of financial risks, and that in 2016 then mayor Virginia Raggi withdrew support for the 2024 bid.
Because of that experience, Italian authorities are now trying to avoid a situation in which a sporting project advances faster than the government's assessment of costs and legal obligations. The IOC's new system places greater emphasis precisely on early guarantees, sustainability and the realism of the project. In the first deeper phase, interested parties will be asked not only for an attractive vision but also for answers to the Future Host Questionnaire and basic financial guarantees. This means that Italy's decision on 2036 cannot in practice be postponed indefinitely: if it wants to enter the group of serious candidates, the country must align the positions of the government, CONI, local authorities and other public bodies within a relatively short period. If that proves impossible, 2040 becomes a strategically simpler option because it provides more time for political agreement, infrastructure planning and securing a financial framework.
The IOC has set a new timetable: the first major selection comes as early as March 2027
On June 24, 2026, the International Olympic Committee confirmed a reformed host selection model, introduced as part of a process launched by president Kirsty Coventry. According to the IOC's official announcement, in March 2027 the Executive Board is to select from the group of interested parties the projects that will enter a new phase called Strategic Dialogue. At that stage, candidates will be required to provide initial responses to the Future Host Questionnaire, as well as basic financial guarantees. The IOC will then provide technical support, and its Future Host Commission also foresees site visits. The process has thereby become more structured and clearer in terms of timing than during the previous period of continuous dialogue.
The next important deadline is expected at the end of 2028, when the IOC is due to decide which projects will enter the more advanced Targeted Dialogue phase. More complete legal and financial guarantees and a more detailed evaluation are expected at that point. According to the IOC's current timetable, the host of the 2036 Summer Olympic Games should be selected at a session in mid-2029. This is an important change for Italy because it removes the possibility of prolonged waiting without a formal decision: by spring 2027, there must already be a sufficiently developed project for the IOC to consider it for the next stage at all. The debate over 2036 or 2040 therefore becomes an issue of an operational deadline during the autumn of 2026, rather than merely a political preference.
Existing infrastructure can be an advantage, but it will not decide the race on its own
Rome enters every new Olympic discussion with the legacy of the 1960 Games. Stadio Olimpico, Foro Italico and a number of other sports facilities give the city a starting base that many potential host cities do not have, while former CONI president and long-serving IOC member Giovanni Malagò specifically highlighted the existing stadium with an athletics track as an important advantage from a sustainability perspective. However, modern Summer Games require considerably more than a main stadium: it is necessary to address the Olympic village, transport for tens of thousands of accredited people, temporary venues, security, media infrastructure, accommodation capacity, energy consumption and the legacy after the competition ends. A Rome-Naples project could distribute part of that burden, but in return it would have to demonstrate that the wider geographical spread does not create additional logistical and financial risks.
Milano Cortina 2026 gave Italy experience with a distributed model, but the Summer Games are a larger and more complex event in terms of the number of sports, athletes, visitors and required operations. That is precisely why the economic study expected by the government will be more important than political messages about the prestige of hosting. In its reforms, the IOC emphasizes sustainability, the use of existing and temporary facilities and long-term benefits for host communities, and the Italian side will have to demonstrate how these principles translate into a concrete budget. Without such a document, it is difficult to expect the Ministry of Economy to assume obligations that could last for more than a decade. This is particularly important because the bid includes not only the operating budget for the Games themselves but also potential investments in transport, urban and sports infrastructure.
The next few months will decide whether 2036 remains a genuine option
As of August 14, 2026, according to publicly available information, Italy has not yet presented a single, officially confirmed bid for the 2036 Summer Olympic Games. There is a strong political initiative from Rome, an increasingly visible possibility of a Rome-Naples axis, alternative interest from cities in the north, and CONI, which is simultaneously talking about 2036 and assessing the advantages of 2040. The government has not closed the door to an Olympic project, but it is demanding a clear financial and organizational calculation before taking on final commitments. Because of the deadline set by the IOC, September talks with key ministers could be the first moment at which it becomes clear whether there is sufficiently broad consensus for Italy to make a serious move toward 2036 or whether the strategy will be redirected toward 2040.
For Rome, the motivation is clear: the return of the Summer Games after eight decades, the use of the existing sporting legacy and confirmation of the city's status as capable of hosting the world's biggest international events. For CONI, the calculation is broader and includes the quality of rival projects, the IOC's geographical policy, the state's willingness to provide guarantees and lessons from previous unsuccessful bids. In the coming months, therefore, the decision will not be merely between two years, but also about whether Italy can shape several parallel ideas into one national project convincing enough for the new, stricter phase of Olympic host selection. If the answer is yes, the first test will not come in 2029 when the host is selected, but as early as March 2027, when the IOC decides who enters Strategic Dialogue.
Sources:
- International Olympic Committee - official timetable and new rules for selecting the host of the 2036 Olympic Games (link)
- Inside the Games - current overview of the Italian debate over a bid for 2036 or 2040, CONI's position and expected talks with the government (link)
- ANSA - statement by CONI president Luciano Buonfiglio on the possibility of the 2036 Games between Rome and Naples (link)
- ANSA - information on the parallel initiative by Milan, Turin and Genoa for the 2036 Olympic Games (link)
- Associated Press - background on Rome's bids, statements by Roberto Gualtieri, Luciano Buonfiglio and Giovanni Malagò, and the context after Milano Cortina 2026 (link)
- CONI - final assessment of Milano Cortina 2026 and the organizational context cited by Italy's sports leadership in discussions about a new bid (link)
- German Olympic Sports Confederation - official status of Germany's national process for possible Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044 (link)
- Qatar Olympic Committee - official confirmation of Qatar's participation in dialogue with the IOC for the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games (link)