“Now, reading, I’m a candidate for everything…”, Luca Zaia smiles. There are several rumors about his possible future at the helm of Coni after Malagò, he keeps it vague: “Let me finish my mandate at the Veneto Region, which will be in less than twelve months”.
The only certainty in this matter is that for Giovanni Malagò any possibility of derogation seems truly precluded. An ad hoc provision from Parliament would be needed, the Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi has already expressed himself to the contrary and the list of those who can’t wait for it to reach the natural conclusion after 12 years of excessive power is long. In the meantime, there is the Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti, author in 2019 – together with the then 5 Star undersecretary Simone Valente, it was the time of the yellow-green government – of the reform that saw the birth of the Mef subsidiary “Sport e salute”. A company that today manages the bulk of the State’s sports funding. Previously, 400 million euros passed through Coni, now 40, all things considered, what is needed for the Olympic missions. In short, it is clear that there is no love lost between Malagò and the minister. “Sport e salute” whose president is Marco Mezzaroma, a loyal supporter of Giorgia Meloni, as well as brother-in-law of Claudio Lotito, patron of Lazio and member of parliament of Forza Italia. The leader of the Forza Italia group in the Chamber is Paolo Barelli, president of Federnuoto, another who is enjoying the end of Malagò’s reign. Who is a politically transversal manager, “flexible” so to speak, careful to cultivate with interlocutors from Fabio Rampelli (Fdi) to Mauro Berruto (Pd) passing through the Renzi area and the search for support with Matteo Salvini, but in short it is something other than a name more organic to the center-right.
After that, the rules mean that the government will not be able to simply choose a name and appoint it by decree. The votes of the sports federations are needed (and there one is worth one: the most important ones, namely football, swimming, basketball, tennis, volleyball, count as much as golf, baseball and bowls) and for this reason an agreed transition would be needed, perhaps with Malagò himself, strong in his relationships with the sports world. He clearly has no desire to step aside. Also because in the meantime he will remain president of the Milan-Cortina foundation and a member of the IOC. “The CONI is a public body. When have you ever seen the president of a public body make a fuss because he wants to stay at the top?”, is the reflection – also transversal – that his critics make.
Besides Zaia, a “presentable” member of the Northern League, who could lead the Olympic Committee? Franco Chimenti, president of Federgolf, has an excellent relationship with Malagò, there is only one problem: he is 85 years old. Luca Pancalli, president of the Paralympic Committee since 2005, boasts a high-level curriculum, but he was councilor for Sport in Rome with Ignazio Marino. The current vice president of Coni Silvia Salis knows the structure and then Meloni would not mind a woman in that role, it would be the first time, exactly as it was for her at Palazzo Chigi.
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– 2024-08-14 01:59:18
