Today, the launch event for the 'Zona Luce' project took place at the Nisida Juvenile Penal Institute (Naples). This initiative is promoted by the FIGC, through the Youth and School Sector, in collaboration with the Pontifical Scholas Occurrentes Foundation and supported by the UEFA Foundation for Children.

The event was attended by the head coach of the Italian national team, Luciano Spalletti, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, the president of the FIGC Youth and School Sector, Vito Tisci, and the president of Scholas, José Maria Del Corral. During the event, the UEFA Foundation for Children Award 2024 was presented, recognising the ethical and social value of the initiative in support of the educational and training program devised by the FIGC.

"The project aims to highlight an important aspect of the sports world, utilizing its unique ability to serve as a privileged tool in the fields of training, education, and personal growth," said President Gravina. "Zona Luce seeks to recover young individuals, particularly minors, by fostering their development and encouraging them to come together using the rules and values inherent in sports. If there are those who wish to dedicate themselves to a career in football, the Federation will provide its facilities for this purpose. I would like to thank our Youth and School Sector for their willingness to support the growth of these young people. My gratitude also goes to the Pontifical Scholas Occurrentes Foundation and the management of the Nisida prison".

"The project gives these young individuals hope for a fresh start by acknowledging the mistakes they've made," added Spalletti. "They see football players as superheroes, but they need to understand that even they make mistakes. We must learn from errors and defeats to strive for a better restart. Within the facility, I observed a strong desire to provide these young people with activities that expose them to realities that can help reintegrate them into civil society, teaching them a trade and creating the best conditions for their future".

THE PROJECT. 'Zona Luce' is a project developed in 2020 by the FIGC Youth Sector and the Pontifical Scholas Occurrentes Foundation, aimed at prison police officers and detainees in juvenile correctional facilities. Its purpose is to initiate virtuous training paths, strengthen the value of sports, and facilitate the integration of beneficiaries into local sports organizations. During the 2020-2021 period, 'Zona Luce' was implemented in the correctional facilities of Nisida (Naples), Casal del Marmo (Rome), and Turin, involving a total of around forty young individuals.

During the training program, which will run from November 2024 to June 2025, the beneficiaries will participate in the Grassroots Football Level E - Social Football course. This introductory training path is primarily aimed at social and community contexts, with the goal of promoting football as a tool for inclusion and personal development. The course seeks to spread grassroots football nationally, engaging young people, amateurs, and local communities. Weekly sessions lasting about two hours will be held over ten weeks, with each lesson focusing on a key theme, including inclusion, courage, commitment, sharing, loyalty, respect, creativity, humility, identity, and resilience.

At the end of the course, the young participants will receive the "Grassroots Football Level E – Social Football" certificate, which will acknowledge the skills they have acquired and represent an important step toward their reintegration into society. All activities, both on and off the field, will be coordinated by the technicians from the FIGC Youth and School Sector and the educators from the Scholas Foundation, ensuring an integrated approach to the personal and professional development of the youth.

In collaboration with local sports organizations, the participants will have the opportunity to acquire professional skills that will facilitate their social reintegration. At the end of the training program, four young detainees selected by the correctional facility will be placed in internships at local sports clubs, supported by a job scholarship program that will serve as their first work experience and a tangible opportunity for social rehabilitation.

The educational project, of which sports activities are an integral part, aims to provide young detainees with the chance for a new beginning and an alternative path toward reintegration into society.