As has become a tradition when Italy plays in Rome, a delegation of the Azzurri will visit the Bambino Gesù children's hospital in Rome, located on the Gianicolo hill, on Wednesday afternoon, on the eve of the Italy vs Belgium game. Arriving from Coverciano, head coach Luciano Spalletti, delegation leader Gigi Buffon and some of the players will travel from Tiburtina station to the hospital at around 18:00 CEST.

In attesa della visita di mercoledì, oggi a Coverciano sette piccoli pazienti dell’Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù con disabilità neuromotoria con deficit funzionale degli arti superiori e/o inferiori hanno avuto la possibilità di assistere all’allenamento della Nazionale per poi incontrare gli Azzurri. Tra loro anche una bambina, Greta, che gioca nella Roma e si è regalata una foto ricordo con i suoi beniamini.

In anticipation of Wednesday's visit, seven young patients from the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital with neuromotor disabilities and functional deficits in their upper and/or lower limbs had the chance to watch the national team train today in Coverciano and then meet the Azzurri. Among them was a little girl, Greta, who plays for Roma and took a souvenir photo with her favourite players.

 

“It is fundamental to include sport in the rehabilitation framework," explains Dr Gessica Della Bella, Head of the DH Neurorehabilitation and Adapted Sports Activities Unit at the Bambino Gesù Hospital. “Despite their motor difficulties, football makes these children feel equal to their peers. It may seem a rhetorical concept, but sport really does unite everyone.” At the Palidoro headquarters of the Bambino Gesù, there is an Adapted Sport Day Hospital service, which creates tailor-made physical activity for children and young people with intellectual, motor and sensory disabilities.

 

FIGC-OPBG COLLABORATION. The collaboration between the OPBG and the FIGC, which began in 2015, was recently renewed with a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the FIGC President, Gabriele Gravina, and the President of the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Tiziano Onesti, which extends a series of joint initiatives until 2027. In these nine years, there have been several visits to Coverciano by patients from the OPBG, as well as by the Azzurri: first by coach Conte, then by the entire squad with coach Mancini in 2019 and 2021 before the games against Greece and Switzerland, and finally by a delegation with coach Spalletti before the game against North Macedonia in 2023.