A working set-up by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has examined documents submitted by Rome and Venice and is due to recommend that the country's capital be chosen, according to a report in Corriere della Sera.

The decision is due to be rubber-stamped by CONI's ruling Executive Committee at a meeting on Wednesday (May 19) before being submitted for approval to the full 78-member National Council, who may still be given the option of voting on both potential bids, although Rome is almost certain to be the overwhelming choice.

According to Corriere della Sera, Venice's bid was seriously considered but finally rejected because it felt it lacked the infrastructure to cope with the Games, particularly in providing the facilities to cope with more than 20,000 athletes and officials and up to 30,000 media representatives.

CONI had announced last October - shortly after Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics - that they planned to launch a bid for the 2020 Games.

Several Italian cities and regions, including Palermo in Sicily and Bari, put themselves forward but it quickly became apparent that only Rome and Venice were serious bidders.

If Rome is chosen as the nomination, they will be seeking to host the Olympics for the first time 1960, a Games memorable for the victory in the marathon of Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, who ran through the streets barefooted, and American sprinter Wilma Rudolph, a former polio patient, winning gold medals in the 100 metres, 200m and 4x100m relay.

Rome's Mayor Giovanni Alemanno has already thrown his support behind the city's bid, claiming that it would be the ideal way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Olympics.

But Rome will not be complacent.

They were the favourites to host the 2004 Olympics but were surprisingly beaten by Athens, who swept to victory in the election at Lausanne in September 1997 by 66 votes to 41 having hosted a successful World Athletics Championships only a month before the final vote.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due to pick the host city for 2020 at its Session in Buenos Aires in 2013.

Among the early candidates are Istanbul and Dubai while several cities in America have launched campaigns, including Dalls and Tulsa, although the United States Olympic Committee claim they have no plans to put forward a bidder.

Doha could also bid again for a second consecutive time if Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup fails.

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