The president of RCS: “It was a fabulous summer for the Azzurri. The Festival is not to be missed, digital makes it more international”
Four years ago he launched a bet, with that intuition of giving birth from nothing to a festival dedicated to sport, immersed in the people and full of champions. Today the president of RCS MediaGroup, Urbano Cairo, pampers his creature, which in the meantime has become an event of international charm. On this fourth edition, starting today in Trento, there will be one more reason for interest. “It will be a special Festival – relaunches President Urbano Cairo -, because it will become the natural stage to celebrate the crazy and fabulous summer of Italian sport. It will be the best way to consecrate all the events and successes that have seen Italy excel in the last few months, from the Azzurri of football to the national volleyball teams, from the Olympic and Paralympic medals to cycling “.
President Cairo, what does a Festival that returns to live in presence represent?
“It is a further sign of rebirth and restart, very important, because participation has a great value. It is an integral part of the Festival”.
Most of the Festival’s events will also be broadcast online allowing everyone to enjoy the show …
“I like to underline how the digital audience opened an extra window last year, allowing 7 million people to experience the Festival, with a significant share from abroad. The digital world has also made it possible to internationalize the event”.
Marcell Jacobs, the fastest man in the world, is about to arrive in Trento: what would you like to ask him?
“To a champion like him, now that he has reached the top of the world, I would ask what is the motivation he has and what will push him to continue winning again in the next few years”.
The Festival is young and yet it seems to have always existed. It is often the great champions who ask to participate: how do you explain it?
“Everyone felt the need to have an event of this type. The Festival was a great idea: before it was born there were many moments dedicated to the individual disciplines but there was no Sports Festival. We needed a great event that allowed to talk about the whole sport. The fact that in previous editions there was the opportunity to see all these great champions, and to tell beautiful stories, was such a beautiful experience for those who participated that today it has become unmissable and A moment in which you want to be there: there will be a consolidation of the Festival experience, because it is an appointment that people are waiting for “.
“I expect the richest and most beautiful edition ever. I will participate as much as possible: today I will be present at the inauguration, on Saturday I will speak in a debate on the future of football, but I will try to be there in many other moments”.
Let’s start with everything that is not football: what are, in your opinion, the unmissable events?
“Cycling offers great champions: it will be fascinating to listen to Colbrelli, fresh winner of the Roubaix. But also Ganna, the fastest chronoman in the world, not to mention Pogacar who won the last two Tours and our female national champions Balsamo and Longo Borghini. Not to be missed is the appointment with Jacobs, as well as those dedicated to the most beautiful Olympics and Paralympics of our life. And the same thing can be said of the events with the national men’s volleyball coach De Giorgi, with Montali, Tamberi and Bebe Vio “.
Coming to football, the exhibition dedicated to Paolo Rossi opens …
“Both the event and the exhibition to Paolo Rossi are of absolute interest. Remembering Pablito is the homage of the heart that the Festival owed to a great champion who was also a great man”.
Among the events offered by the football menu, which ones do you choose?
“We will have two international coaches, like Stefano Pioli of Milan and Thomas Tuchel of Chelsea. It will be a pleasure to listen to them and the same thing will be true for Sacchi and Lippi. The appointment with Beppe Marotta on the theme of Inter between present and future is of great interest. . The meeting with Mihajlovic will be very nice, because Sinisa is a great person, true and of heart. A man of the highest level. And how not to follow from the first to the last second “Euro 2020, we are the champions” to remember the triumph at the European football championship with president Gravina and coach Mancini in connection. The BoboTv phenomenon is nice and fun. As always, it is a very rich festival “.
You will participate in the talk on ‘Football to come’ on Saturday: is it enough to bring the capacity in the stadiums back to 100% or will more be needed to help the football system?
“We will need more, because football has had a huge blow from the pandemic: for a year and a half it has lost the public, many sponsors have reduced their commitments and lacked the contributions of the transfer market. In this pandemic, financial tensions have arisen. serious and you can see it from the balance sheets of many clubs, with colossal losses and significant capital increases for those who can do them. The football industry has a considerable tax revenue and with a number of employees of over 300 thousand people: do not think giving a hand to such an important sector, which has had enormous budget holes, could be a problem “.
Alongside the Festival dello Sport also for the 2021 edition, important companies and institutions have chosen to be brand partners of the event by actively contributing to the development of the schedule. They are Main Partner: Audi and Enel. Premium Partner: Fastweb, Cassa Centrale Group and UnipolSai. Partner: Herbalife Nutrition, La Sportiva, Pastificio Felicetti, Piaggio 1. Sustainability Partner: Ecopneus, Scientific Partner: Humanitas, Official Sneaker: SUN68. Official radio is Radio Italia.
7 October – 07:33
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