ROME - "Le Ali della Vittoria" is the celebration of Italian amateur football, it's the ceremony which, more than any other, confirms the close relationship between the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (the Association of Italian Amateur Football) and the heart of Italian football. The LND is at the core of a movement which has positive values to convey. Italian football is a family trying to pick itself up following the criticism which has rained down on it, and the inquests which have undermined its credibility on the professional level. This is the spirit in which president Carlo Tavecchio hosted the 6th edition of the awards at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, in the Petrassi room. We mustn't forget, however, that a member of this big family is no longer with us. Piermario Morosini is only the latest on the sad list that has claimed victims in so-called minor league football, players who didn't receive the coverage which came with the passing of the late Livorno player. A memory, then, which will embrace players and officials of every level who have left this world, dedicating their lives to football.
"Le Ali della Vittoria" is an award ceremony which was first held in 2004 and whose past winners include some of the most famous faces in Italian sport. People like the Honourable Rocco Crimi, Deputy Minister for Sport, state officials Petrucci, Pagnozzi, Abete, Vicini, Albertini, Macalli and Valentini, Moratti as club director, Sacchi, Prandelli, Del Neri, Zaccheroni and Ballardini as coaches, players Muzzi, Corradi, Bazzani and Grosso, and Pizzul, Palombo, Civoli, Scarnati, Bianchi and Moretti as sports journalists.
Aside from the appearance of the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) - a man who always keeps a close eye on what is happening in the game - there was an even more important guest, as the 2012 awards welcomed FIFA president Joseph Blatter. Following UEFA president Michel Platini, the head of the game's governing body responded with enthusiasm to president Tavecchio's invitation and is back in Italy for the second time in eight months after the opening ceremony of the Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna in September.
Last night's edition, besides honouring Blatter, also saw awards given to long-serving state officials who have given a life-time of support to grass-roots football, namely vice president of the LND Antonio Cosentino and the tax advisor Edmondo Caira. Of course there were also important figures from the FIGC, Damiano Tommasi (president of the AIC) and Stefano Palazzi (state prosecutor), two men who help to make Italian football an example of diversity and a game which is played in the right spirit. "Le Ali della Vittoria", though, is essentially about the football played on the pitch and so it's only right that we celebrate the people who carry the name of amateur football, working in close contact with youngsters week in week out. This is true of coaches like Ciro Ferrara, an example for football lovers everywhere and Robert Menichelli, who recently won a European bronze medal for the Italian 5-a-side team. It is also true of Massimiliano Esposito, the national coach of the beach soccer team, and Andrea Stramaccioni, now Inter coach, but previously in charge of a number of amateur sides. From the dug-out we move to the pitch where an excellent prospect of Italian football is recognised, in the shape of Sassuolo striker Gianluca Sansone (who also played for the national under 18 amateur side). So too is the decorated women's footballer Melania Gabbiadini of Bardolino, and indeed the last line of the Azzurri defence in 5-a-side football, Stefano Mammarella, voted best goalkeeper in the world. A key figure without even kicking a ball, the international official Nicola Rizzoli won the best referee award. Sport - and football in particular - would not be the same without the media, who through their work are able to bring it to life. This year's winners were the editor-in-chief of the Gazzetta dello Sport Andrea Monti, the journalist from the Corriere dello Sport-Stadio, Roberto Di Gianfrancesco and the radio journalist Emilio Mancuso, host of the show, "La Politica nel Pallone."
It was a great celebration of football at the Auditorium della Musica in Rome. Andrea Stramaccioni, busy with Inter preparing for the re-arranged league game against Udinese was represented by Massimiliano Catini, his long-time colleague and assistant at Inter.
