An important initiative is colouring the stadiums and training centres of Italy's top football clubs this year too: the Junior TIM Cup | Keep Racism Out, the educational sports project which involves boys and girls from the cities with teams that play in Serie A TIM.
The curtain of the eleventh edition was officially lifted today in Milan, at the San Protaso Parish, kicking off a new season of the national youth 7-a-side football tournament arising from the collaboration between Lega Serie A, TIM and Centro Sportivo Italiano. For the third consecutive year it supports the 'Keep Racism Out' campaign by organising activities and initiatives aimed at opposing racism and all kinds of discrimination.
A united team took to the field in the parish setting of the Osoppo Theatre to kick off the new edition of the project. Representatives of Lega Serie A, TIM and CSI attended the event, speaking about the project's potential as a tool to combat racism, and the large turnout of guests also included representatives of several Serie A TIM clubs, from Laura Fusetti (A.C. Milan) to Vincenzo Iacopino (AC Monza) and the ‘nerazzurri’ Gianpaolo Bellini (Atalanta B.C.) and Fabio Galante (FC Internazionale Milano).
In the actions deployed to raise awareness of the key issues of the tournament, a prominent role is entrusted to the champions of Serie A TIM, who meet and talk with the young participants of the Junior TIM Cup every week, highlighting the importance of the values of sport and the ability of football to act against expressions of hatred and intolerance. Luca Goi, from the educational staff of the Atalanta B.C. Youth Sector, Diego Vicario and Francesco Zuccala, respectively President of the San Protaso and Kolbe Oratories, and Massimo Achini, President of the CSI Milan, also spoke on the subject.
The project's sporting and educational activities began in recent weeks. Alongside the matches played on the field between the young people from the oratories registered to play this season, a match focusing on the themes of integration and brotherhood also got underway. The kick-off whistle sounded at the Mapei Football Centre with U.S. Sassuolo Calcio, where the footballers of the oratories came face-to-face with Pedro Obiang and Annahita Zamanian. The 'Keep Racism Out' meetings travelled first to the Monteboro Sports Centre and then to the Bortolotti, for the appointment with Empoli F.C. striker Emmanuel Gyasi and Atalanta B.C.'s Davide Ghislandi and Lorenzo Sala; these were followed by the meetings with Wladimiro Falcone and Patrick Dorgu, goalkeeper and defender of U.S. Lecce, and with Sergio Floccari of AC Monza. This week the young people from the oratories met Riccardo Pagano from A.S. Roma and Ivan Provedel from S.S. Lazio, as well as joining FC Internazionale Milano at the Shoah Memorial, in a visit to encourage reflections on the importance of combatting hatred and indifference.
The Serie A TIM stadiums also hosted the Junior TIM Cup oratory team members. Mapei Stadium, Bluenergy Stadium, Stadio Castellani - Computer Gross Arena and Gewiss Stadium were the first to give the budding footballers a taste of the atmosphere of the top league, followed by Meazza - San Siro, Maradona and Stadio Giardiniero - Via del Mare. The Allianz Stadium, the U-Power Stadium and the Olimpico in Rome followed suit.
Since its debut in 2013, the Junior TIM Cup has involved more than 90,000 youngsters, more than 6,650 oratories and played around 35,000 matches. Also this year, the under-14 participants of the tournament will continue to be involved in meetings with Serie A TIM champions, educators and experts, aimed at inviting them to reflect on the themes of the project. They will also be guests of the clubs on tours of the top league stadiums and at the JTC | KRO matches to be played in the pre-match events of the Serie A TIM matches.
Milan, 20 March 2024
