National Board Press Release

This morning at the Foro Italico, meeting no. 1040 of the CONI National Board took place, and it started by approving the minutes of the previous meeting on 13 October. In his report, President Malagò started by complimenting Valentino Rossi for the excellent world championship performance and then briefed the Board on the recent ANOC executive council meeting in Washington, where Luca di Montezemolo made his first appearance as President of the Committee for the Promotion of Rome 2024, gaining much popularity and the attention of the international sport community.

The Board then acknowledged the present qualification of 114 athletes to the Rio Games, and showed its satisfaction for the positive visit of a delegation of Team Managers to Brazil, lead by Carlo Mornati. The Board then examined the report presented by Carlo Tavecchio in relation to the latest events connected to the publication of some declarations against which the Figc President has taken legal action.  Carlo Mornati was confirmed as CONI representative for the Board of Directors of the Mutual Fund (Fondo per la Mutualità).  In the light of the outcomes arisen, the Board then decided to place the Italian Bowling Federation under the administration of Francesco Purromuto (seconded by Alvio La Face and Antonello De Tullio). The analysis of revenues presented by the Marketing Department, was then examined: it showed an increase in earnings from 3.774 million of 2013 to 12.460 million of 2016, a near quadruplication.  On the proposal by Leonardo Gallitelli, President of NADO in Italy, Daniele Masala, twice Olympic pentathlon champion, was nominated President of the Anti-Doping Control Commission.

Prof. Giulio Napolitano intervened at the Board meeting and outlined the amendments to the Sport Justice Code, which was approved with a significant majority. The deadline for loading data on the portal of the Organisations for the Promotion of Sport was pushed forward to 21 December 2015. A work group, lead by the General Secretary, Roberto Fabbricini, will then operate the necessary controls and inspections. The resolution to be presented to the National Council for the second restructuring of the 2015 CONI budget was approved, and so was the 2016 budget. The Board also approved the resolution on the subdivision of intake of extracomunitarian sportsmen, reducing the number from 1,190 to 1,185 units. After having examined a long series of other organisational and administrative issues, and having formulated the necessary resolutions, the Board suspended the meeting at 1:10 pm, adjourning the meeting to the afternoon, after the National Council, to finalise the allocation of funding to the National Sport Federation for 2016.

Visit of the coaches. Tomorrow rehearsal of Casa Italia at the Costa Brava Club

The inspection in Rio in advance of the Olympic Games has gained unanimous approval by the Coaches of the various National Sport Federations involved. It was an intense three-day visit, but very effective and productive, and provided each coach with a complete and comprehensive overview of the places where the competitions will take place, the training grounds and the various logistical arrangements within and outside the Olympic Village.

Carlo Monati, Deputy Secretary General of CONI and Head of Olympic Preparations, illustrated, together with Anna Riccardi and his staff, all the specifics of this competition away from home, with the related issues, which always exist in occasion of such great events. The Coaches really appreciated the clarity of the information and, especially, what was set up to ensure that the Italian team can be put in the best conditions to face the Olympic Games.

During these days, each Coach in attendance had the opportunity to meet the "sport manager" of his discipline at the headquarters of the Committee for the Organisation of Rio 2016 and then to visit the facility hosting the competition (some of which obviously not yet complete).

This evening, the Italian delegation will be the guest of Riccardo Battisti, the Italian Consul in Rio, while tomorrow morning, before going back to Italy, it will visit the Costa Brava Clube, the location chosen by CONI to set up its "Casa Italia".

IOC reaching young audiences with the Winter Youth Olympic Games

Marking 100 days to go, the International Olympic Committee today announced its latest social media campaign asking athletes to share their love of sport and get active with the #iLoveYOG hashtag as they gear up to the second Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, this February. 

Kicking off this campaign is one of the biggest and most inspirational names in winter sport, South Korean Olympic figure skating champion, Yuna Kim. Also known as “Queen Yuna”, the skating legend and YOG Ambassador got behind the campaign by opening her official Instagram account using the hashtag, which has already gained over 80,000 followers. 

Following the success of #YOGselfie last summer in Nanjing at the second Summer edition of the Games, which saw 58 million people posting their “sporty selfies” on social media, the IOC aims to engage young athletes and fans in this latest campaign and ultimately get people active and involved in the YOG. 

During Games time, between 12 and 21 February 2016, printing stations will be available around Lillehammer for people to print their pictures posted on social media. Collectively, these thousands of images will create a giant mosaic - a piece of artwork that will then be donated to Lillehammer as part of the legacy of the Games. 

In line with Olympic Agenda 2020, the Youth Olympic Games aim to engage with fans and young people around the world to encourage them to get active and enjoy the benefits of sport. The IOC sees social media as key to the success of this mission, and as outlined by Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, the world’s largest marketing communications group, the IOC is striving “to use these Games as an incubator, as an accelerator and as a way of understanding what young people want.”

Supporting these social media efforts to engage and inspire fans, the IOC has also teamed up with other winter sports stars: US Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, Norwegian Alpine skier Kjetil Jansrud, Norwegian slopestyler Silje Norendal and Norwegian ice hockey player Mats Zucarello. Collectively, these YOG Ambassadors reach millions of young fans through their social media accounts and support the IOC and Lillehammer 2016 in their campaigns to raise the profile of the forthcoming YOG.

Malagò and Montezemolo meet the sheik Al Sabah

This afternoon in Washington, at the end of the XX ANOC General Assembly, the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and the President of the Committee for the promotion of the Rome 2024 Olympics, Luca di Montezemolo, had a private meeting with the President of ANOC, the sheik Ahmad Al Farhad Al Sabah.

The meeting, which lasted more than forty minutes, helped bring into focus the current state of the international sporting scene and update the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees on the state of progress of the Rome 2024 candidature.

Summit between Malagò, Montezemolo, Pescante & Bach, to check the status of bid

The President of the Rome 2024 Olympic Bid Committee Luca Cordero di Montezemolo met with the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach in Washington DC today to update him on the status of Rome’s strategic plan to host the Olympic Games.

Mr Montezemolo, joined by the President of the Italian Olympic Committee Giovanni Malagò and the Italian IOC member Mario Pescante, pointed out the main principles of the plan. Luca Montezemolo said: “Mr Thomas Bach appreciated our decision to share the whole project with the Green Organizations, our social approach, the main focus on the athletes, technology, sustainability and the legacy. Rome 2024 has a unique chance to modernise the whole city and to stimulate growth for the whole Italian nation”  

UN General Assembly approves Olympic Truce for Rio 2016

The 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly today approved a resolution for observance of the Olympic Truce for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro next summer. The resolution was supported by 180 out of 193 UN member states. Speaking to the General Assembly in New York on Monday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach reiterated the important role that sport and the Olympic ideals can play at the service of society by promoting peace, fair play, tolerance and understanding.

“The Olympic Games are the time when the values of tolerance, solidarity and peace are brought to life. This is the time when the international community comes together for peaceful competition,” said the IOC President. “In the Olympic Village, we see tolerance and solidarity in their purest form. Athletes from all 206 National Olympic Committees live together in harmony and without any kind of discrimination. This is the true spirit of ‘Olympic Unity in Diversity’ – athletes from every corner of the world, living together under one roof,” he added.

The resolution calls for the Olympic Truce to be respected from seven days before the start of the Olympic Games until seven days after the Paralympic Games. During his address to the General Assembly, the President also appealed for help from the member nations to identify top-level athletes who are currently refugees.

“At present, none of these athletes would have the chance to participate in the Olympic Games even if qualified from the sports point of view because, with their refugee status, they are left without a home country and National Olympic Committee to represent,” he told them. Announcing that the International Olympic Committee will invite the highest qualified refugee athletes to participate in the Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016, President Bach added, “having no national team to belong to, having no flag to march behind, having no national anthem to be played, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Games with the Olympic flag and with the Olympic anthem.  They will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees in the Olympic Village. This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis”.

The resolution, entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal,” was formally submitted to the General Assembly on behalf of the Olympic Movement and Brazil by the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016, led by its President, Carlos Nuzman. President Bach underlined that the Organising Committee is working to deliver an inclusive Olympic Games. “The values of tolerance, solidarity and peace are a central part of Rio de Janeiro’s legacy for the Brazilians. These will be inclusive Games – and a unique opportunity to showcase sport as a key tool for peace, social inclusion and tolerance, and in the fight against racial, ethnic or gender discrimination. Through the Olympic Games, the Brazilian people will remind the world of their unique combination of passion and efficiency.” President Bach said. The Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro will take place from 5 to 21 August 2016 and be followed by the Paralympic Games from 7 to 18 September 2016.

Full text of resolution

Lillehammer 2016 have revealed the route for the Torch Tour

Lillehammer 2016 have revealed the route for the Youth Olympic Torch Tour. It will ignite 21 cities across Norway, far and wide, starting from January 2016. Pictured here is the stunning view of Stryn, the 7^th city on the tour (Ole Eltvik's picture). In 113 days, the 2^nd edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games will be held in Lillehammer from 12 to 21 February 2016.

Malagò and Pancalli meet the directors of EUR Spa: synergy for the candidature

Today, at the Foro Italico, the CONI President Giovanni Malagò, together with the President of the Italian Paralympic Committee and Vice President of the Committee for the Promotion of Rome 2024, Luca Pancalli, met the President of EUR Spa, Roberto Diacetti, and its Managing Director, Gianluca Lo Presti.

During the meeting a synergy plan was drafted in relation to the Rome 2024 candidature, to promote the strong sport vocation of the facilities at Eur, already protagonist of the 1960 Olympic Games, and to share the use of the Pentagon, thanks to the New Conference Centre "La Nuvola", a convention and exhibit node that from 2017 will be one of the players in the organisation of major international events. 

Summit in Bonn, Bid Vice-President Luca Pancalli meets the CEO of the IPC Xavier Gonzalez

Today marked the first meeting of the Rome 2024 bid committee with the International Paralympic Committee, as bid Vice-President (and Italian Paralympic Committee President) Luca Pancalli met with IPC CEO Xavier Gonzalez and Integration Director Thanos Kostopoulos in Bonn.

Rome will forever be linked with the Paralympic movement as the 1960 Games in the Eternal City marked the first time that the Paralympics and Olympics were held side-by-side. Rome 2024 continues to embrace the values of inclusion and participation represented by the Paralympics and bring them to the fore in activities planned to promote the Italian bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2024.

In the meeting, Pancalli presented the venues earmarked to host the Paralympic disciplines and discussed the many initiatives attended recently by Paralympic athletes, such as Oxana Corso and Alessio Sarri (meeting with school administrators on October 8th) and Annalisa Minetti (yesterday with the students of the University Tor Vergata). These initiatives, the Committee pointed out, will allow Rome to create a real legacy in the application period, with training sessions organised in schools to deepen understanding of the Olympic and Paralympic values to young people.

Great appreciation and interest was also expressed by the IPC towards the start-up and training centre under construction in EUR (southern area of Rome) City of Paralympic Sports Tre Fontane (Three Fountains), which will become a world-leading venue. 

Vice-President Pancalli commented: "This demonstrates the seriousness of Rome also in Paralympic terms"

Guadagnini new Director of Communications

Fabio Guadagnini, 51, will be the new Director of Communications of the Rome 2024 Committee. He will head up all press and social activity from Rome to promote the Italian candidature to the 2024 Olympic Games. Guadagnini, a journalist since 1993, joins the bid from Fox Sports Italy, where he was Director and Vice Chairman. Guadagnini has Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from the IULM University in Milan.