ROME, Italy, May 26. WHILE the Italian National Championships get underway this week under a fog of controversy, news out of Rome in a Corriere Della Sera article states that the location of the 2009 World Championships in Rome has been seized by government entities.
In a rough Internet translation, "by order of the Prosecutor of Rome, the Judicial Police have seized some of the old ‘Salaria Sport Village' to host the next World Championships."
Since Italian Swimming Federation president Paolo Barelli called for the resignation of members of the world championships organizing committee, political forces from all sides of the issue are jumping to each other's defense. Yesterday, the Italian Swimming Federation released a statement expressing satisfaction with the work done by the organizing committee and in particular Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno.
Giovanni Malago, the chair of the organizing committee and one of Barelli's top targets for resignation, has defended the committee's part in the process. He also explained his thoughts on the seizure.
"I cannot enter the heads of those who ordered the [seizure]," Malago, who has threatened to resign over the whole controversy, said. "I imaging that those who built the plant had permits, and that the delegation had to be granted by those who could grant it."
The seizure comes after alleged abuses that run counter to zoning rules within Rome. Specifics regarding these alleged abuses have not yet been reported.