CONI: Announcement of the National Council

006 MEDIUM MEDIUMThe 231th National Council of the CONI met this morning in Milan, at the headquarters of Sky. Malagò opened the day remembering that only on two other occasions before today had the National Council met in Milan, by choice of Giulio Onesti, in both cases in 1946. It has also been announced that next year there will probably be a new meeting in Milan. Malagò thanked the mayor of Milan, Giuliano Pisapia, and the Governor of Lombardy, Roberto Maroni for attending, revealing the existence of a project that involves itinerant stages for the Council, also visiting other regions. Being 23 days from Sochi 2014, the warmest tribute was then turned to Sky, represented by its Chief Executive Officer, Andrea Zappia, who has hosted at the National Council at its headquarters, but especially has supported expensive investments to broadcast the Olympic Winter Games, after the tremendous efforts already made with London 2012.

The institutional greeting of the city of Milan to the Italian sport was brought by the mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, who recalled the importance of motor practice as an instrument of social welfare, stressing the merits of the CONI in promoting the sport all over, enhancing the synergy with schools and regions to boost the importance of sporting movement as part of a collective growth.

The Governor of Lombardy, Roberto Maroni, has praised the activities of the Region for a widespread dissemination of sport, through the allocation of economic resources aimed at designing facilities and the promotion of sports education. Maroni also reiterated that this project is also part of Expo 2015, with the need to integrate future initiatives with the motor movement, to give a new look to the region, thus characterising it with that sport vocation needed to make it a successful model. Maroni has therefore revealed the existence of a plan for the upgrading of the Ghisallo Cycling Museum, requesting the help of the CONI to develop this topic with the governmental interlocutors in charge, in order to successfully pursue the goal.

Andrea Zappia, the Chief Executive Office of Sky, expressed the satisfaction and pride of the television company in this event, insisting that Italian sport will always be a welcome guest of the TV company. After specifying the terms of the sustained commitment over the years at Sky along with the figures and numbers, Zappia defined Sochi as a "great opportunity": 560 hours of live TV, which will be distributed through various channels in a jigsaw format, recalling the 100 hours of unencoded live broadcasting, for the first time on the Cielo channel, available not only on the digital frequency but also online.

Subsequently the following agenda was discussed:

Verbal approval of the meeting on 19 December 2013: the minutes were approved unanimously

President’s announcements: Malagò started the meeting by recalling the significant results obtained by the athletes in the last month and by bestowing a fitting tribute to those who have written the history of sport and have passed away recently. The initiatives related to the launching of a project, scheduled for 28 January, were announced. This project is linked to the School of Sport and  the 1st National Meeting of the Italian Azzurri Athletes, organised by the Meritorious Association led by Gianfranco Baraldi. The project will be held in Bergamo on 3-4 May. The subject of the new appointments of the Guarantor of the Sport Conduct Code and of the members of the Court of Sport Justice until 30 June 2014 announced last 20 December was dealt with following the collective resignation of the members in charge. Malagò mentioned that the new website of the CONI dedicated to Sochi 2014 is online, welcoming the fact that - for the first time - it will also be available in English and emphasising its great features in terms of accessibility and usability. Then, in view of the Olympic Games, the two choices related to Casa Italia in Russia were announced. They were the meditated choices aimed at the best possible solution at a lower cost than in Vancouver by virtue of the great efforts put in place by Coni Servizi s.p.a.. This was done through the General Manager, Michele Uva, who described in detail the choices made in terms of this result, thanking the official sponsors (Intesa Sanpaolo, Armani, Fiat, Ferrero e Samsung) and the official partners (Agenzia Ice, Ferrari, Falesco, Leitner, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Segafredo, Coop, Sky, Monini, Gruppo Cremonini, Montana, Ice). Carlo Mornati, appointed yesterday by the Government, Head of the Mission in Sochi, has estimated 120 to be the potential number of athletes composing the Italia team at the Winter Games. He indicated the deadline called to resolve the last doubts of the FISI (Italian Winter Sports Federation) team, related to the reallocation of quotas on the part of the FIS (International Ski Federation) and to the clarification of some aspects of interpretation, while the framework linked to the FISG (Italian Ice Sports Federation) is defined. Flavio Roda, President of the FISI, thanked the CONI for the constant support provided, talking about the critical issues related to the regulation, in order to understand the mechanism of qualification in certain disciplines. Giancarlo Bolognini, President of the FISG, has officially announced the figures of the Italia team in Sochi: there will be 27 athletes in Russia, divided between figure skating, speed skating and short track speed skating. Bolognini also pointed out the importance of the support of the CONI in the preparation, with a specific discussion of the objectives and prospects. Malagò then recalled the aspects related to the commissioner of CONI Sicilia, after the resignation of Caramazza, regretting that the data indicating the European situation is characterised by the highest rate of childhood obesity, identifying in the conflict the biggest problem. Giorgio Scarso and Oranzio Aranciowill be appointed to manage the ruling of the Committee. They then went on to speak of the "Milleproroghe" (decree extending the life of various government measures), highlighting the risk of cutting funds by 2 million euros, to possibly recover them through lobbying activities. Regarding the spending review, in 2014, there will be no option to integrate the staffing plan, even against any possible exits. In that sense, it will be only possible to return to work in 2015. Malagò has formalised with the National Council the selection of Diego Nepi as new head of marketing. The management of the Olympic Training Centres will be, however, within the powers of the General Secretariat.

Activities FSN-DSA-EPS (National Sports Federations-Associated Sport Disciplines-Sports Promotion Entity): Approved unanimously were the following 1) ​​the appointment of Corrado Calabrò as Guarantor of the Sports Code of Conduct, 2) the appointment of Franco Frattini, Attilio Zimatore, Dante D'Alessio and Virginia Zambrano as members of the High Court of Sports Justice until the natural expiration of the mandate (30 June 2014).

Miscellaneous: On the communications of the President and other general topics, were present: Giovanni Petrucci (FIP, Italian Basketball Federation), Sabatino Aracu (FIHP, Italian Hockey and Skating Federation), Mario Pescante (IOC, International Olympic Committee member) and Marco Durante (Athletes Representative). Having no other points to discuss in relation to the items on the agenda, the Council has closed the meeting at 12.25.