Italian Sports Day in the World, an initiative promoted by Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani and Minister for Sports and Youth Andrea Abodi, was a smashing success at Villa Madama in Rome on Friday, September 13, 2024. Italy’s top international sporting ambassadors gathered among the lines of media representatives alongside military and diplomatic authorities at the inaugural Italian Sports Day in the World.
CONI President Giovanni Malagò, CIP President Luca Pancalli, Sport and Health President Marco Mezzaroma as well as other Federation officials were in attendance to celebrate the success of the recent Italian sports stories. Guests of honor Paralympic swimmer Manuel Bortuzzo, after a successful campaign in Paris, as well as Rossella Fiamingo and Alberta Santuccio, who together with Giulia Rizzi and Mara Navarria won gold in team epee fencing, were awarded the title of Ambassadors of sports diplomacy. Joining them on stage were Italian tennis star Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Italian national soccer head coach Luciano Spalletti and Team Italy manager Mike Piazza.
Minister Antonio Tajani explained the rationale behind Italian Sports Day in the World and said, "Sport is a tool of great promotion for the country, not only for the tricolor that waves in every part of the world, but also because it represents an industrial system that is worth about 2% of the GDP.The day will now involve our diplomatic representations, but the fundamental concept is the testimony of how sport is an integral part of the country system. We cannot think about growth without strategically dealing with the future and sport, with its values and its champions, is an integral part of this future.
The Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation continued. “I met Manuel the day after his tragic episode and I am proud to have him here today, to celebrate a success that comes from a long journey. Sport, athletes, represent the pursuit of objectives through sacrifice and schools must also recognize and value this. This is what we ask of our athletes: a militant testimony of the values, creativity, and excellence of our country.”
Then Andrea Abodi took center stage and said, “September is a special month: on the 20th we will celebrate one year since the recognition of the value of sport in the Constitution. The Olympic and Paralympic cycle ends in September. The European Week of Sport takes place in September. All symbolic moments that remind us how sport means not only athletes, but also the organizational capacity of a country. Sport teaches us not to stop and contemplate victories, just as we do not to petrify ourselves in the face of defeats.”
The Minister for Sports and Youth Sport concluded, “Sport is a place of comparison, not conflict, and in this it is a very strong instrument of diplomacy. It is social economy, as well as moral. It is up to us to ensure that the values of this day materialize. We must have the ability to take sport out of conflicts. Go back to using it as an opportunity for dialogue through competition.”
The theme of patience, of the ability to work consistently to overcome inevitable defeats and pursue one's goals with determination was expertly expressed by the host Lia Capizzi in the human and sporting stories of the guests: Bortuzzo's return to life, with a bronze at the Games that came in his own time "when all the pressures calmed down and it was really me who wanted it", to the girls of the épée, who gradually achieved the gold in Paris, through difficult moments, in which however "none looked for blame in the other, but we concentrated even more on the team.”
Luciano Spalletti confided: "I live a dream. Exactly with the same emotions as when I was a kid and I watched the Azzurri dreaming of being there. The solution for me is always the team, where everyone is decisive. There is a place where everyone works tirelessly for the common goal. That place is the team."
Mike Piazza, who patiently reached a Hall of Fame career starting from afar, from the 62nd round of the 1988 draft, is also a perfect testimony for perseverance. He said. "Every success comes through the right preparation. In sports as in life there are difficult moments, which can only be overcome by working to improve and planning for tomorrow. We come from an important 2024, with the victory of the U18 European Championship, the solid participation of the U15 in the World Cup and the European softball title a few days ago. We are starting a journey that starts with young people, many of whom are studying and playing at universities in the United States to aim for qualification for the Los Angeles Olympic, passing through the World Baseball Classic in 2026. Difficult goals, but for which we will not spare a single day.”
Dedicated to one of the most important elements of Italy's prestige in the world, Mike Piazza had some final words for Italian national soccer head coach Luciano Spalletti. He joked, “I heard that some players of the national soccer team complained a bit about American cuisine and, in particular Italian American food, during the last tour. Well, I will offer myself next time to give you the right suggestions regarding Italian restaurants in the United States.”
Forza #Italia!
by Marco Landi and Roberto Angotti
