Limit on mandates, there are those who want to go to the TAR…

Limit on mandates, now there is the risk that some Federation president will turn to the Lazio Regional Administrative Court to overturn the law which provides that those who have exceeded the quota of three mandates (12 years) must obtain two thirds of the votes to be re-elected, exactly 66.7 percent, and if it doesn’t pass in the first vote it’s out of the running.

We want to go back to the old way, to 50 percent plus one, easier (perhaps) to be re-elected. Of course, going to the TAR now would be a slap in the face to the sports minister Andrea Abodi, who was initially in favor of limits on mandates (“three are enough”, he said several times), and to Giovanni Malagò who in the national council of CONI on 21 December reminded everyone that if they didn’t vote for the law and related regulation there was the risk that CONI would be placed under commissionership. Result: unanimous approval among the groans. But that this rule did not sit well with many presidents is demonstrated by the fact that in recent months the tide has grown and above all the concern of having to go home after many years of honorable service. It is probable that there could be, at least in some Federations, more than one candidate and this could cut out the outgoing president.

For this reason, an informal meeting was held at CONI, in the Council Room: many presidents present, others connected, others who are against trying to overturn the law now and are therefore keeping aside. Law that Paolo Barelli could try to modify with regards to the territorial bodies, true volunteers, and the federal councilors: for them the two-thirds of the consensus really risks being an insurmountable problem. But Barelli, who already in the summer contributed as a Forza Italia deputy to changing the Lotti law, is now very unlikely that he will be able to fight for his fellow presidents. Among other things, he would have no problem being reconfirmed at the Federnuoto in September. There are others who are at risk. Furthermore, CONI has appointed the lawyer Michele Signorini, head of the statutes and regulations office of the Olympic Committee, as commissioner ad acta: he has the task of having the rules included in the fundamental principles of the CONI statute approved by the Federations before to the polls, i.e. before September. Signorini is already at work.

A parliamentary blitz, or an attempt at the TAR, would certainly not be appreciated either by the world of politics (what would Abodi say?) or by CONI. And then, do presidents have the right to go to administrative justice to block a law they themselves approved? It seems not. Perhaps they would be forced to wait for the elective assembly, and then, in case of rejection, try the (impedible) route of the TAR. There are illustrious presidents, with many mandates behind them, who however push to go to the TAR immediately. However, no one is coming out in the open for now, at least officially. The veterans are Aracu and Luciano Rossi, eight sent each. Six instead for Binaghi, Chimenti, Iaconianni, Matteoli, Barelli and Scarzella. Many others have well exceeded three. The law on mandates is controversial: but can we go back now?

Malagò: “The situation of sports facilities is distressing”

“We are at the top of sporting results, but the ugly side of this coin is that we have never been in such a dramatic moment for sports facilities in Italy, Minister Abodi also said this recently, but the situation is pitiful and is recognized from everyone, even from politics”: this was said by the president of Coni, Giovanni Malagò, during the national day of sports facilities at the Coni Hall of Honour. “We as Coni, however, are not in the business of building plants – he added -. We need a Marshall plan made up of competent people, not individuals who happen upon it by chance and then make nefarious decisions. For example, there was a dramatically missed opportunity, that wicked stance on the destination of funds by the Pnrr. An opportunity that will arise again in 50 generations. This is why I always say that major sporting events are needed to build facilities in Italy.” Speaking instead of the Italian sporting results, he concluded: “What is happening is impressive, we have never had so many strings to our bow. 4 months after Paris we can do better than Tokyo if we respect the medal projections. We are the only country at world present everywhere, in 371 different disciplines. You can’t be first in all of them, but if you find the contingency, the athlete or something else, then you are competitive.” The conference at CONI was organized by the national council of engineers: illustrious speakers in agreement but why were there no representatives of Sport and Health? And Minister Abodi was not present either but wrote an article in the engineers’ magazine. According to the latest National Census of Sport and Health sports facilities, more than half of the public and private sports facilities of public interest are located in the North (52%), only 22% in the Center and 26% in the South. The facilities they then suffer from a high degree of obsolescence, resulting from the distant date of construction, in most cases dating back to the 1980s (about two thirds of the total), as well as the reduced ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. In all of this, we are awaiting the effects that could derive from the resources of the Pnrr which, under the heading ”Sport and social inclusion”, provides for investments of 700 million euros. Sport and Health has an important role on the facilities, a role desired by Minister Abodi.

Barbaro: “There is still a lot to do in Italian sport”

The journey to reform the Italian sports system, which began in 2019 with the Budget Law, is not yet finished. Claudio Barbaro, national president of Asi, Italian Sports and Social Associations, and long-time sports manager, takes stock of the situation to italpress. “The journey begun with the aim of reforming the Italian sports system in 2019 is far from over – says Barbaro – and today requires a wide-ranging vision to get back on the main road and orient sport as the fulcrum of government policies also in the field health, culture, well-being and the environment, promoting a real cultural revolution, heralded at the time but not yet realised. To date, Sport and Health, which was born from the 2019 reform, has not yet expressed a strategic vision and perhaps some management figures are have been burdened with excessive responsibilities when compared to their respective political, sporting and programmatic capabilities. Furthermore, we observe a certain confusion in governance and I am referring to the roles of the four subjects: Sport and Health, Ministry, Department for Sport and CONI”.

A reform that was born then with very different perspectives: “It then seemed more than coherent to ‘return’ to the State above all the administrative functions relating to the matter. With Sport and Health the intention was to create a subject not for the mere management of the ordinary but which translated a prospective government vision into concrete facts. While today it appears to be a sort of evolution of the Coni Servizi from which it was born: like the previous structure it organizes events and manages facilities, it also organizes training courses and promotes grassroots sport in the territories generating confusion also for the user, who is still unable to distinguish between the various entities responsible for disseminating the practice of sport in Italy. The situation of CONI is different, having been assigned the pivotal role of Olympic preparation since 2019. A role which, given the data, performed impeccably, considering the historic record of medals won at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games and the second best haul ever at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.”

Great sporting results but the situation of sporting practice in Italy is still evolving: “Looking at the results obtained by top Italian sport – continues Barbaro – one would imagine a consolidated sporting culture. Instead, the situation of sporting facilities is precarious, sport is little integrated into the school system, and sports associations are severely compromised due to the post-pandemic repercussions. Added to this are the challenges deriving from the energy crisis connected to war conflicts and a reform, albeit worthy in its intention to enhance work in the sports sector, which is dangerously resulting in an increase in bureaucracy and heavy burdens for the associations. The latter, often replacing state functions, represent an extraordinary network in Italy for the promotion of physical activity, unique in the European panorama”.

In conclusion, Barbaro relaunches his commitment to the world of Italian sports associations: “Four years ago, after being re-elected, I thought of definitively closing a long managerial career in ASI at the end of the four-year period. However, faced with clear prospects dark of sports politics and the path still to be done in and for sport as we dream of it, I considered it essential not to exclude the possibility of continuing to lead the organisation, placing the decision on my re-nomination in the hands of the management”.

Paris 2024, Massidda qualified in weightlifting

Sergio Massidda’s Olympic qualification ended in the best possible way, as he guaranteed a place for Paris 2024 in weightlifting. At the end of the World Cup in Phuket (Thailand), the last stop on his qualifying journey, the Italian born in 2002, by virtue of the 302 kilos he lifted last September at the World Championships in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), placed third in the Olympic ranking of -61 kg, gaining one of the individual passes reserved for the ten best athletes in their weight category. There are currently 213 Italians qualified for Paris 2024 (107 men, 106 women) in 25 disciplines.