Italy’s Winter Sports Federation (Federazione Italiana Sport Invernale) said plans are underway to host an Alpine skiing World Cup city event in Rome’s historic centre.

However the mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno has vetoed the federation's preferred choice of the Circus Maximus as a future venue for the skiing championship’s parallel "city event".

Describing the archaeological site as unsuitable, Alemanno said every effort would be made to find a more appropriate location for the event which could take place in Rome in 2014 or 2015.

Guenther Hujara, a delegate from competition organisers FISI disagrees with Alemanno’s assessment of the Circus Maximus, saying: "there is no better place in the world for a city event."

The event requires a ski ramp 60 metres high and 250m long, which must be able to withstand a weight of 1000 kg per sqm of surface. The artificial snow is produced in a special hangar and then transported to the venue.

Moscow hosted a slalom city event on a similar giant ramp in February.