Sanremo mayor says will uphold sentence on tender from 2026

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 6 - Sanremo Mayor Alessandro Mager said Friday he would uphold Thursday's sentence by the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Liguria ordering the council to issue a tender that might stop Rai state broadcaster from hosting the Sanremo Song Festival in the Ligurian seaside town from 2026 onwards.
    "We will do everything we can to uphold the TAR's sentence," said Mager.
    The Sanremo fest, the high point of Italy's TV calendar, has been broadcast by Rai since it began in 1951 ans most Italians deem it unthinkable that the state broadcaster should be stripped of it.
    On Thursday the TAR declared the direct assignment to Rai by the Municipality of Sanremo of the organization of the Sanremo Festival for the years 2024/2025 to be illegitimate.
    The judges decided that the Municipality of Sanremo, without affecting the next edition next February, will have to announce the assignment of the festival with a tender open to operators in the sector thenceforth.
    The appeal was filed by JE, a company that produces and creates musical events and works. Rai's response was "the organization of the festival remains our property. There is no risk that it could be entrusted to third parties". (ANSA).