Until December 20th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is exhibiting hundreds of objects that have made the history – football but not only – of Italy. Tajani: “Sports diplomacy can reach where others cannot.” Spalletti: “The tricolor flag is a bit like a son”
Paolo Rossi’s shirt, Silvio Piola’s boots, the World Cup goals to relive in VR and the ball from the one won in Germany in 2006. There is a lot of Italian history on display at the Farnesina. From today until December 20th the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hosting “Sfumature d’Azzurro”, with hundreds of memorabilia from the Coverciano football museum. It is nothing new that the minister and vice-president of the Council Antonio Tajani has focused in a concrete and decisive way on sport, so much so that he has “established an office that deals with sport diplomacy and – he announces – I am thinking of a reform of the Ministry to enhance it with its own Department”.
ITALIAN PRIDE
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The minister – who has already appointed various ambassadors of Italian sport in the world, from Sinner to the Giro d’Italia, adds: “Sport and love for the homeland unite. The national team is a symbol of redemption, when it wins pride explodes Italian. I am convinced that sport is part of foreign policy. It is an exceptional instrument of peace. Sometimes what the diplomat or the man of culture cannot say, the man of sport can say.” The president of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina can only agree: “I thank Tajani, a great football fan and far-sighted minister. A sports department enhances a proactive dimension that breaks down barriers and is a tool for valorising Made in Italy. When the players wear the shirt for what it represents: memory, pride and future.”
Luciano’s mission
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Gigi Buffon, head of the Italian delegation, and Matteo Marani, president of the Lega Pro here as number one of the Coverciano football museum, listen and nod, as does coach Luciano Spalletti: “The Italians’ relationship with the flag is the same as me, when we wave it it’s like when a dad proudly waves the photo of a son he keeps in his wallet. The outpouring of affection from the fans was a daily shock.” And referring to America in the next World Cup he adds: “We must live up to the mission we have been given.”
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