It was announced on September 13, 2024 by the Vice-Premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani and the Minister for Sports and Youth Andrea Abodi at the official launch of Italian Sports Day in the World in Rome that sport is an extraordinary vehicle for Italy on the international level, not only for the value of the image, but also for the concrete contribution it provides to the ‘Made in Italy’ brand in terms of business opportunities.
There will be many Italian diplomatic offices around the world that will organize events and meetings using the sports theme, together with their respective Italy Trade agencies. The first of these occasions was hosted by the Consulate of Italy in New York, which launched the project with the conference ‘Sport Made in Italy: a growth tool’ on Sunday, September 22, 2024. Minister Antonio Tajani and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola were present in New York as they were in town to participate at 79th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
The initiative hosted by the New York Consulate, organized together with the Embassy of Italy in Washington, CONI and the Fondazione Milano-Cortina, was opened by Ambassador Mariangela Zappia and the Consul General in New York Fabrizio Di Michele and moderated by Stefania Spatti of Class CNBC. The three most popular sports in relations between Italy and the United States, football, basketball and baseball/softball, were highlighted and the topics for discussion for three different panels and their guests.
The first topic ‘American investments in Italian football’, with Alex Del Piero as testimonial of the Lega Serie A, saw the participation, partly via video conference, of Stephen Pagliuca, Co-President of Atalanta and Boston Celtics and the other Co-President of the Bergamo company Div Turakhia, Giorgio Furlani, CEO of Milan, Alejandro Cano, General Manager of the Oaktree Fund, owner of Inter and Luca Martines, General Manager of Parma.
The second panel discussed the theme that can be defined as the opposite, namely ‘Basketball: lessons learned from the NBA’ with Italian basketball star Danilo Gallinari, who illustrated how much Italian basketball has assimilated due to the collaboration between Italian players and coaches with the NBA.
The third panel instead looked to the future, starting from a story of integration that has its roots in the origins of the discipline: ‘Baseball and softball: a potential for growth’, together with FIBS President Andrea Marcon and the Italian MVP of the Softball World Cup and overall MVP of this year’s European Softball Championship, Isabella Dayton.
FIBS President Andrea Marcon said, “First of all, I would like to thank Minister Tajani for choosing our disciplines for this new project that puts sport at the center of international relations with the launch at Villa Madama last week and now this further and prestigious occasion. The American world is obviously a fundamental reference for us. Several years ago, we began a journey of involvement and knowledge of the Italian-American community that today, thanks to the presence of a legend like Mike Piazza at our side, is being enriched by many entities, companies and associations that are fundamental for the growth of our kids and, consequently, of the entire movement. We have several American partners who help us in various ways. We are also at an advanced stage to conclude the agreement with American financiers for the construction of a top-notch facility in Italy. We have a lot to learn from here, obviously, in the management of sport also as a business, but first of all I would say the sporting culture of not putting the result at all costs before everything else.”
Team Italy slugger Isabella Dayton, after receiving congratulations from Minister Tajani for winning the European Softball Championship and the international tourney’s Best Player Award, answered questions from Stefania Spatti about the transition from college to the national team. She replied, “I could say that the college experience prepared me for the international one with Italy. Above all, it gave me the ability to manage time, which is very different at an international level, when every day you have to play a crucial match. The team is progressing: we would have liked to have done better in the World Cup at home, but then immediately after we won the European Championship, so I feel that we are definitely aiming for the Los Angeles Olympics!”
(Selfie photo by Danilo Gallinari with Andrea Marcon, Isabella Dayton, Alessandro Del Piero and Stefania Spatti)
Marco Landi