Pescante, 72, is the vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will be formally confirmed as President of Rome 2020 on Wednesday (February 23), officials said.

Montezemolo, who organised Italy's 1990 FIFA World Cup and has been chairman of Fiat, was proposed as a bid head last week but said he would only take the job if there was enough financial and Government support.

"I'm sorry that Luca di Montezemolo has decided there are not the conditions to accept the role," Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said.

"He was a very good candidate.

"We are now working together with the Government and CONI to find a chairman with a profile different from someone with an entrepreneurial background, which will be presented officially on Wednesday at the States General of the city of Rome."

Pescante, a member of the IOC since 1994, is a professor who was Italy's Sports Minister between 2001 and 2006 and was closely involved in the organisation of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin as the Italian Government Supervisor.

He remains a Deputy in the Italian Parliament and lectures on ports law at the University of Rome

Pescante has held several top-ranking roles within the Olympic Movement, including being Chef de Mission of Italy's team at eight Games and President of CONI between 1993 and 1998.

Pescante will be the third choice to head Rome's campaign to bring the Olympics back to the Italian capital for the first time since 1960 after Nerio Alessandri, the founder of London 2012 sponsor Technogym, had also turned down the job.

But Gianni Petrucci, the current President of CONI, claimed that Pescante was the right person to lead the bid.

"He is a good choice because he has a high-profile in sports and has followed the ideals of the Olympic Movement all his life," he said.

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