CONI President, Giovanni Malagò, and the State Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Domenico Manzione, in the presence of Interior Minister, Angelino Alfano, today signed the "Memorandum of Understanding between the Interior Ministry and the Italian Olympic Committee on ways to collaborate regarding the spread, the practice and implementation of sports activities supporting foreign children within the national reception system".

Present at the event, in the crowded Conference Hall of the Interior Ministry, in addition to the Head of the Department for Civil freedoms and Immigration, Prefect Mario Morcone, were several Interior Administration officials involved in the field of immigration and asylum.

The initiative was presented by the Managing Director for Immigration and Asylum policies, prefect Rosetta Scotto Lavina, which was followed by the speech from the President of CONI, Malagò, and that of the State Secretary, Manzione, who stressed the importance of the agreement, focused on sporting activity as a powerful integration tool for foreign children living in reception centres set up across the nation, as well as the invaluable practice for the training for all young people from a physical and psycho-behavioural point of view.

Before signing the Protocol, Minister Alfano offered strong support for the contents of this Understanding, which will be developed into a three-year action plan, launched earlier in some pilot regions, in the North, Centre and the South, then introduced nationwide.

The event was also attended by 20 foreign students from reception centres representing the diverse world that is the main recipient of the project shared by the Ministry of Interior and National Olympic Committee, which sees the value of sport as key to the integration of young immigrants.