ROME - The conference "Calcio e Violenza. Riportare il calcio a misura d'uomo"
(Against violence. Taking football back) took place this morning in the
Sala della Regina at Palazzo Montecitorio.
FC Internazionale honorary president Massimo
Moratti and captain Javier Zanetti attended along with the following
figures: MP Stefano Dambruoso, Minister for Regional Affairs Graziano
Delrio, Acting Deputy Head of the State Police Force Alessandro
Marangoni, Minister for the Committee on Culture, Science and Education
Antonio Palmieri and co-Editor of Il Corriere dello Sport Stefano
Barigelli.
After the right honourable Dambruoso's introduction,
Marangoni, Palmieri, Barigelli and Delrio took the floor.
They analysed the issue of violence in football since the death of
Filippo Raciti, looking at the incident involving child supporters at Juventus
Stadium, the behaviour of Lazio fans in Warsaw and the importance of
making a "system" between teams to devise and implement measures to
combat violence in football.
During the congress, the Nerazzurri captain was asked what it's like to always work, whether you win or lose:
"It's
a great honour for me to be here. I'd like to thank everyone for this
opportunity. My work ethic is everything to me because the first people I
learned from were my parents. My mother is no longer with us but my
father was a builder. They made huge sacrifices to make sure we never
went without. Watching them get up at six in the morning and then come
home at six in the evening made me realise a lot of things and I believe
that upbringing has helped me throughout my career, both as a
footballer, but above all in everyday life.
"Whether you win or
lose, hard work is always the best remedy. I believe that the issue of
violence is a problem linked to culture and one's environment because
education reflects how the country is. I think we need to unite and not
make life easy for people who want to ruin something special like
football."
Taking Inter v Barcelona as an example, Zanetti then
spoke about how important it is to have team spirit: "We began that run
with it in our minds that we could do it."
Going beyond sport,
honorary president Massimo Moratti had an important message: "First and
foremost I'd like to thank everyone for being here, we really are very
proud. I believe that every club bears the imprint of the ownership and
if the ownership follows the team, and does so with passion, you see
that when you have certain ideas, you're automatically able to convey
them. To do that you need to have the respect of the fans, but also
courage. For example, we need to do everything we can to combat racism.
What are the others? They are organisations like Javier's or Inter
Campus because football really reaches everyone. So we need to do things
through football which allow us to achieve certain results."
Zanetti
went on to explain that, "Too many people have a vested interest in football,
so that's why - rightly or wrongly - I think footballers are the best
bit about the game."
His view was supported by Massimo Moratti:
"I'm saying this from the experience I have and I could name Javier as
an example. I remain very close on a personal level to the guys who won
the Treble, not only because they won but because those guys had
something special inside them which allowed them to win all those
titles. There have been others in the past, I could mention Recoba for
instance, but everyone knows that already [smiling]. Plus we've had
plenty of stars at Inter like Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic."
And what
about the future of Inter under new ownership? "I'm very confident as
ever," explained the captain. "There's a long way to go and we have to
improve. I really rate our coach and the squad he's putting together."
Massimo
Moratti was similarly optimistic: "Everything comes down to what
happens on the pitch, but I've got a fair amount of faith in this squad
because it's balanced. The coach is a strong person who has a good
relationship with the squad who, pretend nothing's happened, but I
believe one way or another they've felt the change. I have to say that
they were all great because none of them, not even the coach, made me
feel bad about this decision. This change must be linked to the
character of those in charge of this team, but I can't be 100% sure on
that. I do know though that the future will be bright."
Inside
the Montecitorio it was hard not to think about Italy as well as Inter.
Honorary president Moratti was asked what the people need now: "People need to
feel the faith of those in power and want to have faith in those who
make decisions. This is a union that can come about from a lot of work,
from facing up to problems. Now there's an emergency in the industrial
sector with regards to jobs, people are behaving well because they are
waiting for something. We need to do something for tomorrow. I believe
that all together - despite having differing opinions - we can do
something big. An example is this gentleman here, Zanetti, who with
great dignity tied himself to the colours which are so dear to all our
hearts."
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