Italy’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marco Di Ruzza, attended the press conference presenting the “Football Camp” that Atalanta B.C. shall set up in Sarajevo at the “Safet Zajko” sports complex from 19 to 21 October. Some 120 youngsters aged 8-12 years will take part in it. The initiative is supported by Intesa SanPaolo Banka and is organised alongside the City of Sarajevo.
Marco Trevisan, Chair of Intesa SanPaolo Banka’s Management Board, explained how the collaboration with the project falls within the actions the bank carries out to support the local communities, with a specific focus on socially disadvantaged situations. In this regard, it was mentioned that some of the boys and girls who will participate in the three-day football event come from orphanages and other social assistance facilities. Romano Zanforlin, Head of Marketing at Atalanta and Stefano Bonaccorso, Grassroots Coordinator for the Youth Sector, stressed the social and sporting relevance of the initiative, while also pointing out that this is the first time the Bergamo-based club – which has enjoyed several top-level seasons recently – has chosen Bosnia and Herzegovina for such an initiative.
Expressing his appreciation of the initiative, Ambassador Di Ruzza pointed out that the action of the Italian Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina – in particular through cultural diplomacy and development cooperation projects – basically follows two parallel paths: further strengthening the excellent relations between the two countries and creating tools that may bring together the several social components of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a specific focus on the new generations, overcoming all ethnic and religious barriers so as to contribute to the country’s national reconciliation processes while also supporting its path towards European integration. From this standpoint – the Ambassador continued – sport is an extraordinary binding element, perfectly functional to both goals. In this regard, the Ambassador concluded, De Coubertin’s message – clearly visible at the Olympic Museum of Sarajevo and which defines sport, and Olympism in particular, a real “destroyer of dividing walls” – still echoes today.
