Sport and politics, dangerous relationships

A winning debut. “A terrifying success”Like this Roman Cyrus recounts his first adventure as an author with “I just wanted to play ping pong.”a work available in bookstores (Caffèorchidea editore) and which aroused great interest after its presentation last March at the Salone dei Marmi of the municipality of Salerno. Among the many recognitions, Romano will be the protagonist next May 9th at Turin Book Fair and subsequently to Frankfurt Book Fair. Certificates of important esteem, for a story that analyzes the most important moments of the Cold War but connecting them to sport, a means not only of ideological propaganda but also a tool for writing very important pages of modern history.

«The secret? Writing about topics that I would read with interest, all linked by a very current morality. There are stories in this book that I consider truly incredible. Moments that seem marginal but which, if explored in depth, allow you to understand their true power – the words of Ciro Romano, a lawyer on the front line especially for the laws relating to typhoid -. The text examines the Cold War period, the era that welcomed me into the world. When I was young, my interests were mainly linked to sport, but I especially appreciated the commentary or trying to understand what was happening in the stands, the banners, the chants. I have always considered it a paradigm for understanding the world by doing so with a slightly more lateral perspective. And then I consider the last few years because I believed that everything “iron curtain” was mysterious, and we know how much mystery fascinates».

However, everything is closely linked to the people, protagonists of strong gestures capable of overturning any convention. «The book intersects sport but also music, art, popular culture. When people gather around an element or a topic, extraordinary things are born which have also made it possible to save the world. I think about World Cup ’82, to the challenge between Poland and the Soviet Union and to the power of the banner in favor of Solidarnosc positioned in a strategic way to be punctually framed by TV and with sensational repercussions on the communist bloc. Symbol of how the stadium, among the less serious things, is the place where the most important messages can start».