Gabriele Gravina spoke to the press at Casa Azzurri today, with the FIGC President having the following words to say: “I’d like to thank the media for the way that they’re reporting on this European Championship and for their desire to promote a new story. This centres around a sporting project that we launched two years ago, and I believe that there was a clear objective when expressions like ‘nuovo rinascimento’ (‘new renaissance’) were used. We’re now trying to implement this in the best way possible”.

The convincing success in the opening match with Turkey confirmed the potential of Roberto Mancini's national team, capable of stringing together 28 consecutive useful results and a candidate to be a leading role in a continental tournament which, for various reasons, represents a valuable restart signal: “A competition that had to be played like this”, underlined Gravina, “would have been a disaster without fans, it had to be played in this way. This European Championship is the only case in which the legacy is already in the present. This is the message to be sent to our fans, the protagonists of this relaunch of our country. The team's performance was very positive, the result of a great deal of work and a desire to give the Italians a goal and a target that has been missing for several years”.

The federal president then announced that he wanted to include compulsory training courses for footballers for the use of defibrillators in the National Licenses. The proposal comes two days after the unfortunate incident suffered by Danish footballer Christian Eriksen in the European Championship, who was saved thanks to the timely intervention of his teammates: “His heart stopped for a few moments, but so did ours. We will take all possible steps to ensure that these courses aren’t just for professionals, but also for amateurs. During the teams’ training camps, through the commission chaired by Professor Zeppilli, we will commence training courses in first aid, and we will do it through a program that the Commission has been studying since this morning. We will also do so in the national team’s training camp over the next few days”.

Behind the results of the National Team stands the work carried out in recent years by the Federation: “My greatest satisfaction”, says Gravina, “is to see the realignment between the colour blue and all Italians. The thread that was broken in 2017 seems to have been sewn back together now”. This job has been hampered by the pandemic, which has kept the public away from the stadiums for a long, long time. Gravina announced that “next week we will update the protocol for the next season. We have to shake away the doubt, the anxiety: We have to implement the policy of courage, of making the vaccination campaign work. Fear would generate a negative effect with no return. We are coordinating with the other federations to understand if there can be an increase in the number of spectators in the stands from the quarterfinals of the European Championships”. The FIGC President also commented on the current hopes of Italy hosting another important event such as the Euros or the World Cup in the next few years: “Our organisation, starting from the Under 21 European Championships – although in quite different and simpler conditions – has been an excellent training ground. An excellent performance that’s also been officially recognised by UEFA President Ceferin. Italy needs a great event, also to solve the infrastructural problem, and it deserves it. Our country has already shown that when it can work as a team, it wins".