Lega di Serie B chooses Paolo Bedin as new president

After a long electoral session, which in fact lasted more than three months, the Lega di Serie B has chosen its new president: Paolo Bedin. The former Lega Pro general manager was elected with 15 votes in the third ballot, after the nullity of the first two rounds. The other candidate, Vittorio Veltroni, obtained the remaining five votes in the third ballot, while the outgoing president, Mauro Balata, seeking a third term in office, withdrew his candidature after the second vote.

From Vicenza, 55 years old, married with two children, a graduate in Political Science with a master's degree and specialisation courses in sports management, Bedin has extensive experience as a manager in the football industry. First as marketing and sales manager, then as general manager of clubs, including Vicenza Calcio, Venezia Calcio FC, LR Vicenza. He was then general manager of Lega Serie B and Lega Pro. During the presidency of the Lega Serie B by the current Minister for Sport and Youths Andrea Abodi, Bedin also held the role of general manager at B Futura Srl, the sports facility design consultancy company created on Abodi's instructions.

At the international level, Bedin has for many years been a representative and member of the Board of the European Leagues, the association of European professional football leagues (second and third division leagues). He is also one of the founders and vice-president of Assi, the Italian Sport Managers Association, a member of the scientific committee of the Sbs Master in Sport Management at the Cà Foscari University of Venice and a speaker in almost all Italian sport management courses (Sbs, Bocconi Business School, Sole 24 Ore, Bicocca, MasMaCom).

His candidature had the political support of Abodi and Figc President Gabriele Gravina. 'I congratulate Paolo Bedin on his election as president of the Lega B. He is an experienced manager and a person of great common sense, and I am sure that, with the help of all the clubs, he will know how to be an important reference point for Italian football and that he will be able to contribute to the collaboration with the Federation in the interest of the entire movement,' said the Federcalcio number one, who also thanked Mauro Balata for his contribution to the Federal Council during his years as president.

At the end of the assembly, Bedin met the press to talk about the priorities to be tackled: 'They are those highlighted in the programme, there are economic-financial aspects of great urgency dictated by the outcome of the last announcement of audiovisual revenues. There are also issues that are very dear to me of organisational structure and dialectics, as well as synergies, with the federation and the two leagues (A and C) that I believe must be one of the focal points of this governance. We cannot do without intense collaboration, both with the A and C leagues. The professional world must dialogue more and come up with a supply chain idea, and it must do so with a constructive spirit and a constant relationship. Any idea for reform must be seen within the federal framework and arise from dialogue between categories, without prevarication or unilateral impositions. I believe that in any sector, relations are the basis for planning and also for work. And in this sense I can say that there are excellent relations with all components, none excluded, both personal and professional, and this is an important starting point. Now we will analyse all the various issues with the clubs, in a collegial perspective that will have to involve all the members and find a synthesis between the various instances'.