Italy rejects Bari's 2020 bid

MILAN (Reuters) - Bari's dream of becoming Italy's candidate city for the 2020 Olympics all but evaporated in a matter of hours on Wednesday after officials said the bid was inadmissible.

Michele Emiliano, the mayor of the southern city, formalised Bari's bid by writing to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) but the proposal was quickly rejected because he had not followed strict rules over candidature.

"The request cannot be considered admissible by CONI," the Olympic Committee said in a statement.

The rules were brought in after CONI president Gianni Petrucci criticised Italian cities for expressing interest without proper consultation.

"This doesn't look good abroad. It's not enough just to hold a news conference to put yourselves forward for an Olympics," he said last month.

"There are as many Italian cities bidding as there are pizzas in Naples."

Critics have question whether Bari, with a population of just over 300,000, could host a Games. No city so small has held the Summer Olympics in modern times.

Palermo pulled out last month following the comments by Petrucci, who is nonetheless keen to have an Italian bidder after Rio de Janeiro's victory over Madrid in the race for 2016 made a European Games more likely four years later.

Petrucci has acknowledged interest from Rome and Venice and CONI will now set about choosing one candidate, with Bari officials pondering whether a second attempt is worthwhile.

A decision on the host city from bidders around the world will be made in four years.