An online meeting dedicated to training on competition integrity and combatting the risks of corruption and match-fixing in football. The FIGC, in collaboration with Sportradar, has promoted a workshop for the National Women’s team, currently preparing for their first World Cup game against Argentina, scheduled to take place on Thursday 24 July at Eden Park in Auckland.

The session, led by lawyer Marcello Pressila, is part of the training programmes that the Federation wanted to organise given the start of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The focus of the work was the analysis of concrete cases that have happened in the past at International level and the measures that must be taken into account to respond effectively to corruption attempts.

Before the workshop, a group from the National Women’s team visited young players of Birkenhead United Women, who trained in the afternoon under the watchful and amused eyes of seven Azzurre. It was a very welcome surprise for the Club's Under 16s from Beach Haven (a district of Auckland, not far from Shepherds Park, where Italy are preparing for their World Cup adventure). Bonansea, Girelli, Giuliani, Linari, Salvai, Serturini and Severini were all present along with assistant coach Matteucci and the accompanying manager, Marchitelli.

After the initial greetings and the customary photos, the players spent time with the girls, signing autographs, giving advice and watching the match that concluded their training session. The visit filled the youngsters with joy and showed the Azzurre a different reality from what they were used to. “It was a different afternoon from the previous ones,” said Elena Linari, “I saw myself in their passion: even as a child, I had to train at night, in the cold, and seeing these 14 and 15-year-old girls in short sleeves, on a muddy field made me relive my past. It was a personal enrichment, nice to see the eagerness to learn on their faces. I am very happy to have taken part in this initiative and I hope to do more of them to involve more and more girls.”

The meeting was also attended by Luca Vasori, Head of Women at the club, which has a women’s sector consisting of around 200 female footballers, from girls to the first team. Many of them will be in the stands at Eden Park to cheer on Italy in their match against the Albicelestes.