Economic sustainability and medals: the challenges of Italia sport
Sport and business. From Abodi to Malagò
From the record medals won by the Olympic and Paralympic national teams at the Milan-Cortina Olympics to the disappointing performance of Italian football, from the successes achieved by the Italian men and women in almost all disciplines in the most recent international competitions to the infrastructural and governance challenges that the Italian sports system must face in order to remain at the top, in the face of the unknowns arising from the demographic and birth rate decline to the global spread of sport.
Sport between political perspectives, reform, financial challenges and athletic enterprises will be the focus of two events at the Trento Festival of Economics.
On Sunday 24 May, the Minister for Sport and Youths, Andrea Abodi (remotely connected), is scheduled to speak. The occasion will be useful to take stock of the situation on several fronts. The delicate topic of the reforms that are expected to re-found Italia football after the last dèbacle and the failure to qualify for the World Cup cannot be ignored. An electoral process is underway that will have to lead to the choice of the new Federcalcio president, but several times the various components have asked for legislative interventions to facilitate the reconstruction of the sector, from tax incentives for nurseries to a more favourable betting discipline. During his tenure, Minister Abodi obtained the establishment of an independent commission for the accounting and financial control of professional sports clubs, which has been operational for a year, and the initiation of a commission procedure to assist in the construction of new stadiums.
In fact, a key point in framing the problems of Italian football remains that of outdated facilities and the simplifications necessary for the modernisation of infrastructure, also in order to fulfil Italy's commitments in view of the European Championship to be hosted in 2032.
On Thursday, 21 May, at the Teatro Sociale (4.00-16.45 pm), the president of the Milan Cortina 2026 Foundation, Giovanni Malagò, and three protagonists of recent Olympic competitions will be the stars: René De Silvestro, gold and silver medallist in Paralympic alpine skiing; Pietro Sighel, Olympic gold and bronze medallist in short track; and Laura Pirovano, who won the Downhill World Cup immediately after the Games.
