Disqualification of Settebello, Campagna’s version: “The crowd, the cell phone: I’ll tell you what happened”

The protest was sensational, the reaction to the defeat was furious, the coach’s official defense after the punishment was furious. Campagna says of that match with Hungary in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics, of the referee’s errors in that match and of the subsequent protest before Spain (a team that turned its back on the referees during the anthems and a team that voluntarily played with a player less): “We are not violent and we are not a team that does not know how to lose. In this case it was the most sensational mistake since I have been playing water polo, that is for 45 years. As a result there was an emotional reaction , calm and civil who violated the rules. We are aware that the punishment is fair.” After that match with Hungary there was a protest against the referees for the unfair expulsion of Condemithe disallowed goal and the penalty for the opponents which effectively led to their elimination from the Games.

Campaign: “The crowd, the mobile phone: I’ll tell you what happened”

The national team was banned for six months. “There was no physical aggression, there was a harsh but verbal challenge – the coach’s version – When the players saw the referees there was a verbal challenge. At a certain point the referees left towards the door to get back into the pool, there was a narrow passage there and people crowded at the door. There was nothing, in the meantime a person filmed the scene, so a player was taking his phone.” At that point Campagna he explained that he got off the bus he was on and headed towards this Integrity Unit delegate. “I told him to try to understand our state of mind, we had suffered a huge injustice, then I calmed the players and we left – he concluded – This whole episode must have lasted 30 seconds”. The six-month stop will prevent the Azzurri from participating in the World Cup but not in the 2025 World Cup scheduled for next summer in Singapore. “We’ll take these six months and spend the night,” concluded Campagna.

Abodi defends the team: “Certain organizations go further”

“I believe that our water polo players limited themselves to a correct and civil protest.” Thus the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi. “I believe that certain international bodies – he continues – go a little further and do not understand the state of mind of athletes who work for years to achieve an objective that fails due to an error that has also been recognised. The behavior was not violent, it was firm. And it was also a protest, which must always be respected.”