“Italian sport has never gone so well,” Giovanni Malaghi tells us.

We are approaching the important date with Milan-Cortina, the 2026 Winter Olympics “and we do so with the understanding that with so much light and some shade, Italian sport has never gone so well”, he confirms Giovanni Malagi During his speech at the Foglio event in the San Siro (here all day at the San Siro). In February, Kony’s front man celebrated a decade of the presidency. “The first reason for pride? If we hadn’t won so much, we would have ended up in the dock. All Italian disciplines. The results protect us from criticism, but it takes time to build long-term sports projects. And yet we exceeded all expectations: in Tokyo and at the Winter Games And beyond. In 2021, looking across all disciplines, we finished runner-up to only the United States. in 2022 in third place behind China. First in Europe for two years in a row: there’s clearly enthusiasm“.

Even about the regulator. “It is a fact,” Malago declares, “After a difficult start, the roadmap for Milan-Cortina is much better: we still have a lot to do, many critical issues to resolve, and there is still a race against time.. But much less than a year ago at this time.” Also thanks to some unexpected allies. “Champions League Euroderby, for example: if they told us in the fall that we were going to take an Italian team to the Champions League final and maybe the same number would have believed it In the European Conference League, who would have believed that? That’s why I say let’s touch the sky with a finger. The two teams from Milan who face each other in the semi-finals are our best place so far to nominate Milan and Cortina.”

In addition to lofty goals, under Malagò Coni he worked hard to ensure the autonomy needed for the sport. We cannot ignore politics, but those of us who join a party cannot undo their sporting past. Our relationship with sports and health? CONI is a public body. A case unique in Italy and rare in the world that, unlike others, defines itself through elections: the top management is determined by the base, 13 million members. With the audience: we represent the sporting entities but also the state. The problem comes when someone from the state administration invades our field: it is necessary to define tasks and responsibilities within the sports sector. According to our statutes, we cannot guarantee physical activity in schools, we cannot interfere with the growth of botanical engineering, we cannot deal with health or social issues – that is, with these 46 million non-members. But someone has to do it. That’s why we raised our voices.”

There are issues beyond the capabilities of the institutions. “Please,” Malagy urges journalists, “do not generalize about the tragedy of Julia Ituma,” the U-20 national team volleyball player who died in Istanbul last April. “I wanted to talk to the coach personally: he gave me my word of honor that there were no warning signs. There are millions of athletes in the world. Unfortunately, even these cases statistically make more noise when it comes to young athletes. It’s hard to say where we could have done More What is certain is that it was not possible to explain the girl’s state of mind.