Cooperation programme with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote Italian sport abroad
The President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation signed this morning at Farnesina a cooperation programme aimed at promoting sport on the international scene. The agreement includes a series of initiatives aimed at enhancing and coordinating activities that will help the movement to spread and grow abroad, improving the image of the country. An important synergy also in relation to Rome's bid for the Olympic Games of 2024, a crucial issue that was also addressed in the meeting today.
Also attending the signing of the document were the Secretary General of CONI, Roberto Fabbricini, the Deputy Secretary General, Carlo Mornati, the General Coordinator for Rome 2024, Claudia Bugno, the Secretary General of the Ministry, Michele Valensise, and the Head of Promotion and Sporting events, Luigi Maria Vignali.
National Board Statement
This morning the 1035th meeting of the National Board of CONI was held, which began its work by approving the minutes of the previous meeting, held on April 29. President Malagò began the communications, announcing that on Friday the Onesti Foundation will present the Onesti Award 2015 to the President of IOC, Thomas Bach. Before receiving the prize, Bach will meet the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, as already happened with its award-winning predecessors, namely Juan Antonio Samaranch and Jacques Rogge. At 10:45 Bach will visit at the Foro Italico the new premises of the organizing committee for Rome’s 2024 Olympic bid and will have lunch with members of the IOC and the Italian Presidents of International Federations at Acqua Acetosa, the Olympic Training Center dedicated to Giulio Onesti. Malagò then focused on the latest events relating to the world of football: the postponement of the Roma-Lazio regular season match, the arrests relating to illegal betting in Lega Pro and Dilettanti and the investigations of the Italian Guardia di Finanzia in relation to the assignment of television rights.
The Board also approved the composition of the team that will participate in the next European Games in Baku. Italy will be represented by 295 athletes, including 127 women (43%, a record percentage for a multimedia event) and 168 men. The team can still undergo some changes in relation to certain qualifications. The flag bearer will be the Italian Olympic judo champion from Beijing 2008, Giulia Quintavalle. It was also announced that the Office for Olympic Preparations has defined all the arrangements for the pre-Olympic campus in Rio, with the exception of the track and field team that will train in San Paolo and the swimming team that will train in Santos. The location for Casa Italia, which will also host the bid committee for Rome 2024, was also chosen: it is the Costa Brava Clube in the spectacular setting of Sao Conrado and Barra da Tijuca. Malago also expressed his compliments for the successful organization of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia tennis tournament, thanks to the fruitful collaboration between Federtennis and CONI Servizi. Any ongoing compulsory administration will be completed by June 6. Elections will be held on May 23 in Lombardy (single candidate Oreste Perri) and June 6 in Calabria (nominations will expire on Friday). The next Board Meeting and the next National Council will be held in Milan on July 2 during the EXPO; the Mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, the President of Rome 2024, Luca di Montezemolo and the staff of the bid for the 2024 Olympic Games were formally invited to the event. After reviewing a long list of other organizational and administrative issues and taking the relevant resolutions, the council ended its work at 12:00.
283 Italian athletes headed for Baku, Giulia Quintavalle is the standard-bearer
The National Board of CONI announced this morning the composition of the Italian team for the first edition of the European Games that will be held in Baku from June 12 to 28. 283 athletes (164 men and 119 women) in 23 disciplines will represent Italy. Giulia Quintavalle will be waving the flag: the gold medallist of the 2008 Beijing Games will be the first standard-bearer in the history of Italian judo.
She will be accompanied in Azerbajian by other 4 Olympic athletes: Niccolo Campriani for shooting, Jessica Rossi and Chiara Cainero for skeet shooting, Mauro Nespoli for archery, and a total of 14 Olympic medalists in the team (Marco Aurelio Fontana for cycling; Andreea Stefanescu and Marta Pagnini for rhythmic gymnastics; Vincenzo Picardi and Vincenzo Mangiacapre for boxing; Luca Tesconi for shooting; Deborah Gelisio, Giovanni Pellielo and Massimo Fabbrizi for skeet shooting).
President Mattarella to receive Bach at Quirinale on Friday
On Friday, May 22, the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, will receive the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, along with the President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, several IOC members and the former Presidents of CONI, Franco Carraro and Mario Pescante. The Head of State will preview the copy of the "Onesti Award".
Afterwards, at 11.30am, in the Hall of Honour of CONI, President Bach will receive the "Onesti Award 2015" conferred by the Onesti Foundation, chaired by Franco Carraro.
BNL Group BNP PARIBAS main sponsor of CONI
BNL Group BNP Paribas and CONI, thanks to a relationship which has lasted over 70 years, today announced a new partnership to develop initiatives and projects aimed at backing sporting activities at all levels, in order to support business ideas and to further spread sports culture. BNL is the Main Sponsor of CONI exclusively for banking activity and for financial services. BNL and CONI already share a history full of historic events and initiatives such as the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, the 1990 World Cup in Italy; the feat of the five Azzurri athletes (Erica Alfridi, Deborah Gelisio, Josefa Idem, Ylenia Scapin and Alessandra Sensini) at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, through the "BNL Cerchi e Stelle" [BNL Circles and Stars] initiative, sponsorship for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. BNL is, also, the partner of 44 Sports Federations and Bank of the Italian Paralympic Committee and of the main Federations linked to it.
The new partnership arises from the wish to enhance respective skills and abilities, putting them to use for those who make sport an important part of their life and their activity: athletes, young people, families, university students, entrepreneurs and start-uppers, until reaching the Italian Olympic team. That is in the belief that sport is an important factor in training and education for people and young people in particular: dedication, perseverance and fairness represent, in fact, necessary elements for achievement and for improving results, in sport as in the private and professional life of the individual. For this, BNL provides, within the framework of the agreement, commitment, firstly, to the family financing which makes the costs easier to bear for the sporting activities of their members, paying in instalments with dedicated conditions and offering, in this way, a real and useful contribution to family finances. However BNL also takes into account '"entrepreneurship in sport", to support athletes or champions who do not compete any more but who have experience and knowledge of the sports world and its requirements and wish set up their own business idea. All this is possible through the micro-credit sector in which BNL operates through an industrial partnership with PerMicro, leader in the Italian market.
The support is not only limited to financing, but it also includes mentoring for new entrepreneurs by specialised teams to assist them in the preparation of the business plan and in the different stages of start-up, management and business development. The initiative also caters for young people whose start-up is related to the world of sports, and for those which are working in a contest which rewards the best business project, emphasizing aspects of innovation, with a focus on technology, of sustainability over time and ability to generate income.
The BNL-CONI partnership also focuses on training opportunities with the project “EduCare for Sport”, which involves athletes, young athletes and university students in order to explore themes related to economic and financial education and their application in the area of sports and everyday life. Banking experts, professionals, sports managers and champions will be present at the events. EduCare is the economic and financial education project started by BNL in 2008 with free meetings throughout Italy. In six years over 4 thousand events have been organised with the participation of around 80 thousand people and 8 thousand companies.
Within the framework of the agreement, last but not least, an offer is also expected for the athletes and for sports fans through Hello bank!, the digital bank of the BNP Paribas group, operating in Italy with BNL, as well as in France, Belgium and Germany. The closeness of BNL to sport and to CONI is well known also for its commitment to tennis, which sees the Bank since 2007 as title sponsor of the "Internazionali BNL d'Italia". BNL has contributed, also together with CONI and FIT [Italian Tennis Federation], to the growth over time of this Tournament, which has become one the most important events in the sector, anticipated by a multitude of enthusiasts both nationally and internationally. The support of the Bank at events of such high standing also allows for the recovery and valuing of places, such as the Foro Italico and its facilities, which form part of an artistic and cultural heritage of great value for the Country.
Olympic champion Niccolò Campriani named as Baku 2015 ambassador
Baku 2015 has today announced that Italian shooter and Olympic champion Niccolò Campriani will be an Athlete Ambassador for this summer’s inaugural European Games. Campriani won a gold and silver medal in rifle events at London 2012, establishing two Olympic records in the first event, and equaling the Olympic record in the second. He was named the 2012 ISSF Shooter of the Year.
With the addition of Mr Campriani, Baku 2015 now has a total of 12 international Athlete Ambassadors. Simon Clegg, Chief Operating Officer of Baku 2015, said: “With only 36 days to go until Baku 2015, it is extremely exciting to bring Niccolò on board as an Athlete Ambassador. Niccolò is the reigning Olympic champion in his discipline and we are delighted to add another world-leading athlete to our lineup of inspirational International Ambassadors.”
Baku 2015 Athlete Ambassadors will represent their sports and feature in marketing campaigns around the continent and on social media, to promote the European Games. Campriani said: “I am very excited to be an Athlete Ambassador for the inaugural European Games, and honoured to be chosen alongside such leading athletes from around the continent. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to help raise the profile of the very first European Games across the world.”
Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian Olympic Committee, said: “Niccolò is a wonderful addition to the Baku 2015 Ambassador programme. I have no doubt that he will do a fantastic job promoting the European Games, as well as building the excitement and support for all our athletes in the lead up to Baku 2015". Campriani joins German table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Greek fencer Vassiliki Vougiouka, Irish boxer Katie Taylor, Team GB’s taekwondo athlete Jade Jones, French rhythmic gymnast Kseniya Moustafaeva, Denmark’s canoe sprinter René Holten Poulsen, Serbia’s 3x3 basketball team of Dušan Domović Bulut, Marko Savic, Marko Zdero and Dejan Majstorovic, and Poland mountain biker Maja Włoszczowska as Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors, with more to be announced in the near future.
Walk of Fame opened in Rome: 100 plaques to celebrate Italian sports legends
The legend lives on in the pleased gazes of the champions, leading actors of a never-ending splendor, and is reflected in the awe-struck smiles of the admiring fans, flocked to attend an inauguration surrounded by the heady scent of immortal glory. A unique snapshot, which overlaps different eras, intersecting them in a fulfilling osmosis that perfectly conveys a sense of infinity. Today, the curtain has raised on the "Walk of Fame" of Italian sport: 100 names embedded in dedicated celebratory tiles, a path paved with "stars" which extends from Viale delle Olimpiadi to Stadio Olimpico, a street museum that has to be admired while walking, all in one go. Unforgettable triumph, invincible athletes, and immortal emotions: myths that wrote a special and beautiful story and gave prestige to the country, in that Italy that is synonymous with excellence. One hundred timeless champion, chosen upon the exclusive decision of the CONI Athletes Commission chaired by Marco Durante. Viale delle Olimpiadi is full of those athletes, some are represented by their family members, and many others came to cheer: the most beautiful part of a movement that has always excited Italians.
The President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, inaugurated the Walk of Fame with a sincere emphasis. "It's a special moment, the best occasion for anyone involved in sport. We did what was right: we wanted to celebrate the ones who wrote history. A hundred names, chosen by the athletes themselves, a list that will be expanded with the names of those who will continue to make our country great and proud. It was our duty, and I want to say thank you to these great champions, of which we will remember the deeds by walking on this historic, Olympic avenue". The President stressed that the victories of Pietro Mennea in Moscow and Federica Pellegrini in Beijing are his most "symbolic moments" in the 101 years of activity of CONI.
Marco Durante, President of the Commission that drafted the list of champions, further amplified that concept. "This is an important day to celebrate sport. We are sorry for the disputes related to our choices, but we wanted to remember not only champions and victories, but also people and values. We also realized an app dedicated to the Walk of Fame and available for download from the official website of CONI: with this app you will be able to discover the triumphs and the biographies of these 100 myths which really left an indelible mark."
Alberto Tomba and Sara Simeoni ideally led the group of the legends: they are the athletes of the century, who received the award during the celebrations for the centenary of CONI; they are the spiritual standard-bearers of a homogeneous delegation that knows no distinctions, beyond all ages. Just like the quintessence of sport, a universal language than oversteps any difference. One hundred plates in strict birth order: from Giorgio Trissino (riding) to Domenico Fioravanti (swimming) history can be caressed forever. The athletics is the most represented discipline, with 12 champions, followed by cycling (seven athletes), fencing and football (both with five athletes) for a total of 31 disciplines. A memorable day held in the presence of several members of the Executive and the National Council, the CIO member Mario Pescante, the presidents of various Federations and Associate Sports Disciplines, and the executives of CONI and CONI Servizi. A big party to celebrate a never-ending walk in history.
Opening of the "Walk of Fame" scheduled for tomorrow
The President of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, will inaugurate tomorrow the "Walk of Fame", dedicated to the first 100 legendary athletes that have written the history of Italian sport, in Viale delle Olimpiadi at the Foro Italico. The ceremony will be held near the Casa delle Armi and will begin at 12 pm.
The names of the champions - retired athletes selected by the Athletes Commission of CONI, presided over by Marco Durante - will be honoured with personalized plaques that will present Italy’s sporting heritage to everyone who travels the road leading to the Olympic Stadium.
Baku 2015: 3x3 Basketball, results of the draw
The International Federation of Basketball announced yesterday the results of the draw for the men’s and women’s 3x3 Basketball competitions at the Baku 2015 European Games. As host nation, Azerbaijan will be represented in both competitions, and will be playing the Netherlands (currently ranked number one in the world), Switzerland and Greece in the women’s Group A, while the men will be competing against Andorra, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in Group D.
In the women’s competition, Group B will feature the Czech Republic, Belgium, Turkey and Ukraine; Spain, Slovenia, Ireland and Slovakia will meet in Group C, while Romania, Russia, Israel and Lithuania make up group D. In the men’s event, Group A includes Slovenia, Romania, Lithuania and Israel; Group B will feature Russia, Spain, Turkey and Belgium, while Estonia, Serbia, Italy and Greece make up Group C. Following the round-robin group phase, all teams will progress to the direct elimination phase, where they will be seeded based on their final placing in the group stage.
Mr Pierce O'Callaghan, Director of Sport at Baku 2015, said: "As one of the new and innovative sports included in the Baku 2015 programme, there will be a huge amount of interest in 3x3 Basketball. Competition to be crowned the first ever European Games champions is sure to be intense. "Everything is now in place to stage great Games, and we are delighted to have the best teams competing here in Baku this summer."
Lisboa2Baku: Cyclist Cristovao makes a stop at the Foro Italico
Jorge Cristovao, the protagonist of the original cycling challenge "Lisboa2Baku", arrived in Rome on Saturday, May 2nd; Cristovao started his journey on April 10th to bring his message through some of the countries that will participate in the first edition of the European Games which will be held from June 12th to 28th in the capital of Azerbaijan.
Jorge will travel 6990km in 60 days by bike, from Lisbon to Baku, and should reach his goal on June 10th, two days before the Opening Ceremony. "Lisboa2Baku" is an initiative supported by the Portuguese Olympic Committee to promote the continental event.
After Italy, the trip will include Greece, Turkey and Georgia. His passage through our country started on April 26th and will end on May 6th. After being in Genoa, La Spezia, Prato and Bettolle, in Soriano del Cimino on May 1st, on May 2nd, Cristovao stopped in Rome where, among other things, he visited the headquarters of the CONI and the European Olympic Committees at the Foro Italico. His next stop will be in Brindisi, where he will embark to Greece.
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