De Sanctis: “Boccia is aiming for the European Games in Istanbul 2027”

Bowls at the 2027 European Games. This is the new objective of the Italian Bowls Federation (Fib) following the decision of the executive committee of the European Olympic Committee to unanimously assign the fourth edition of the European Games to Istanbul, scheduled for 2027.

“Bocce finally deserves entry into a highly prestigious context, such as the European Games – states the number one of the Fib, Marco Giunio De Sanctis – I recently sent a letter to the president of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, to support us in achieving this ambitious objective, considering that our president of the International Bowling Confederation (CBI), the world body of the Raffa specialty, is Mutlu Turkmen, rector of Bayburt University in Turkey”.

“An intervention with the IOC, the European Games Committee and all interested parties – adds De Sanctis – would favor this opportunity which, for the Fib, would represent a tangible step forward towards the most important competitive goals”.

No Paris 2024, at the moment, for the Paralympic Bowl. “We are extremely sorry that this ambitious goal has fallen through, especially because our Federation needs an image and the Olympics, whether able-bodied or disabled, are the showcase that a complete Federation like this is missing to obtain the consideration it deserves” comments President De Sanctis. “There is also regret because we lost by points difference against an approachable nation like Colombia, who then reached the semi-finals. We knew that it wasn’t easy for the kids because it takes a lot of practice, also because we are talking about the most serious category, BC3. The Portuguese one, in any case, may not be our last chance to gain the qualification pass for Paris 2024, as there is a possibility, I don’t know if remote or not, that they could fish out our Italian Mirco Garavaglia in the individual test. If it’s not Paris we will try to qualify for Los Angeles 2028.”

The president of the FIB returns to talk about the total value of the resources assigned by Sport and Health to the sports federations. “We are trying to obtain better conditions, together with the relevant sports institutions, to solve the personnel problem.” And he explains in detail: “We would like to find an agreement to arrive at a completely different solution compared to today, namely that of receiving more dedicated financing, and therefore more resources, considering that they are always the same while the staff determines a continuous economic increase of year after year.”