'The development of women's football driven by values attracting sponsors'

Galeotto was the book and who wrote it. It is Dante's story of Paolo and Francesca. And also of Paolo and Federica. He, is the national Pablito, she, Federica, is his wife and president of the Figc Women's Serie A Division. He made Brazil cry and, by lifting the World Cup at the Bernabeu, led Italy out of terrorism; she, at the head of women's football, has carried on her shoulders thousands of girls who dream and run towards destiny by kicking a ball and prejudices. All for a convict book. In 2003, Cappelletti, then a journalist, wrote Razza Juve. Quindici uomini che hanno fatto la storia bianconera. Then, she invited Paolo Rossi to an evening in Perugia for the presentation: 'The first answer was no because of the many commitments,' recalls Federica, 'but I convinced him because he was fond of Perugia. On the day of the appointment there was a European transport strike, he was in Sofia, yet he arrived on time, albeit in a daring way, and when he entered the room, he flashed a smile so sunny that it lit the light in me. It all began like that'.

Today, in the summer light of a Tuscan afternoon, we are at the Coverciano Federal Technical Centre, where the Football Museum, presided over by Matteo Marani, is also located. Around it are stretches of olive and cypress trees in a row, in front of it the Azzurri training camps. The library is lined with volumes and football magazines from all over Europe and the president's voice is as soft as the hills beyond the windows: 'Living with a legend, football has always been home but I would never have thought of such a role for me. In 2023 I accepted the position: it was a difficult moment, after Paolo passed away in December 2020. It was a way for us to continue walking together because with Paolo, who loved all sports, we often talked about women's football in which he recognised an ancient, technical football, where the economic aspect was in the background, thus bringing out values, a more sentimental sport, dominated by passion'. In short, Pablito dreamed of a Pablita. And who knows, maybe the upcoming European Championships - from 2 to 27 July in Switzerland - will not bring any surprises: 'The national team is in the group with Spain, world champions, Portugal and Belgium, all teams, like the others participating in the continental event, within the reach of the players of coach Soncin, who has restored enthusiasm to the group. A good mix of old guard and growing girls, we will do well'. And it seems like listening again to the words that Megan Rapinoe, superstar of women's football, uttered in front of a frowning Donald Trump in 2019: 'Do what you can, do what you have to do, break free. Be something more, be better, be bigger than you've ever been before'.

Growing indeed. In two years of presidency, Federica has built a team - you can't live next to a myth without learning - with the staff of the division and with the clubs, also in view of the constitution of the Women's League: 'We are closing a rich season, three clubs, Juventus, Inter and Roma, have qualified for the Champions League; three National Teams, the major one, the Under 19 and the Under 17, are participating in the European Championship. Serie A in 2025-26 will rise from 10 to 12 teams to make football as popular as possible, and in the three newly promoted clubs I find a great desire to do, to plan,' so much so that this very afternoon at the Coverciano Centre, the athletes and managers of Ternana, Parma and Genoa can be seen. There is planning to be done, to be discussed, perhaps looking at the richest leagues in Europe. The 2019 World Cup in France, with Sara Gama's Azzurre out in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands, had made the Italians discover a world: at the time, there were 1 million fans of women's football in Italy, today there are 7 million: 'The Football Report just published,' explains the president, 'shows that the sector has ample expansion margins for solid and structured growth: Attendances at the stadium have doubled compared to 2021-22; with the matches broadcast free to air on generalist channels, there are almost 320,000 average viewers per match, compared to 140,000 three seasons earlier, and sponsors are approaching women's clubs because of the value of our sport'. Which will also benefit from the recent rebranding: 'The new logo is a big A with what we are, Women, in line also with what they do in Europe and the feedback is not lacking. Of course, Spain and England have numbers that seem unattainable to us, but the recent launch of the Panini Album, 64 years after the men's edition, has shown how much interest there is in girls scoring goals. Certainly, the launch will have set collectors in motion, but even at Panini they were surprised that a reprint was needed in five days. And now we are working on a similar project to remember the Azzurri of the past. Between the past and the future, there is the present with so many foreign players chosen by clubs to increase the general technical level and with events such as the Coppa Italia Primavera that oblige clubs to look after the nurseries closely in order to grow the new Sara Gama'.

The Report is a snapshot from which to change and grow, starting with the professionalism introduced in 2022, the only federation in Italy, and refinanced in February: 'it is an achievement of civilisation, a protection for the athletes, even if the budgets have suffered, but it is a necessary step. There was a strong increase from the 2021-2022 season to the 2022-2023 season (+40%) and a subsequent settlement in 2023-2024, reaching 4.4 million euros (+54% over the three sports seasons). And the growth was mainly generated by the increase in personnel costs, which grew from 1.6 million (54%) in 2021-2022 to 2.6 million (64%) in 2022-2023'. As with the introduction of rose quotas, it was not possible to do otherwise: now, professionalism and the overall growth of Serie A, also witnessed by the departure of Juventus player Sofia Cantore, for a record sum, to the US championship, must be flanked by development projects, from a more widespread presence of football schools in the area, to the training of coaches with knowledge in the women's sphere: 'There are many coaches of women's clubs who would no longer return to the men's side, but I believe that only by opening up the great men's stadiums to women will we have a leap forward. Last season, Juventus v Roma at the Turin Stadium was attended by 33,000 people, which means that 33,000 people have become bearers of the beauty of a slower but much more technical football, of a genuine football, always fair and respectful of others'. She is a steadfast and determined woman, Federica Cappelletti, so much so that this project seems so clear in her head that it already seems to somehow come to fruition: 'I like to confront myself, to dialogue with everyone, but then you need the spark, you need to turn the light on where no one expects it. Like his (and our) Paolo used to do, when he would emerge from the scrums, no one would see him and condemn the goalkeepers. That's what football is, even in management: intuition, imagination, finding the opportunity, widening the space and making it horizon and infinite.

She looks up and looks beyond the glass of the library, Federica, with these green eyes like the hills: 'Paolo was an exemplary man, a wonderful husband, an enveloping father, who made me better, the woman I am today with a far-sighted, modern, open vision and his rare capacity for observation would have been useful in this management adventure as well'. So eager to leave her mark because there was almost a role reversal. Paolo, who passed away in December 2020, attracted the light and returned it with that magic smile of his, carried an entire country on his shoulders, as on the night of 11 July 1982; now it is Federica who has picked up the baton, to become a relay of rights, on behalf of all Italian girls: "I put the knowledge I cultivated with Paolo at the service of Serie A and I know that it will be the girls on the pitch who will silence prejudices, also thanks to an exchange between men's and women's football: in England, the Premier League pulls the sponsors of women's football and women's football could be an area of experimentation, as in the case of the pre-match entertainment format we are working on to involve mainly young people and families who come to the stadium".