What the Italian community in New York holds for the National team couldn’t be more intense, a 19-year-long embrace can only be emotional. Touching down in Newark at around 17:40 CET after a slight delay due to weather conditions in Fort Lauderdale, hit by heavy rain since the morning, the Italy squad then reached the elegant Spring Place in Manhattan where the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) was waiting with a welcome drink and around 1000 Italians to be shared between the Italian-American community and the Azzurri.

Federal President, Gabriele Gravina spoke: “For the FIGC and the National team, it is a pleasure and source of pride to play in the USA and share a special moment like this one with the Italian-American community. The welcome that we received both in  Miami and here in New York has been exceptional, we were able to see first-hand the enthusiasm and love for one of the best symbols of Italy: the Azzurri shirt. This short tour, born from a transversal project with sporting, cultural, commercial, and institutional aims, has laid the foundations for an even closer connection between Italy and the USA”.

Our compatriots have been waiting for us in New York since 2005 ahead of a World Cup that Italy went on to win, today it’s the Euros that lie ahead for Italy who arrive as resigning champions after the win in 2021. But, beyond pas and potential future victories, the Azzurri shirt represents a link to Italy for those Italians abroad and unites all of our compatriots across the world, defying distance and crossing oceans, as in this case. For this reason, welcoming the Azzurri symbolises opening the door to all Italians, showing pride for several generations of compatriots arriving in the USA. 

Present at the welcome events for the Azzurri were Robert Allegrini (NIAF president), Giovanni Colavita (CEO of Colavita Spa), Pierpaolo Monti (Country Manager Usa Intesa San Paolo), Fabrizio Di Michele (Italian Consul in New York).

The meeting also saw a fundraiser for academic bursaries and support funds for cultural initiatives and was part of the social activities organised by the organisation that brings together the Italian community in the USA, like the Anniversary Gala, organised each year in Washington DC with important figures from politics, finance, and culture of the country, as well as successful Italian-Americans. Founded in 1975, the NIAF now represents over 20 million Italian-Americans in the States. Yesterday, moreover, saw the first institutional meeting between representatives from NIAF Florida and the FIGC delegation in Fort Lauderdale, in the hotel where the Azzurri are staying.

Today at 12.15 local time (UTC-04:00), at the Permanent Representative of Italy in the United Nations (885 Second Avenue, 49th floor), Ambassador Maurizio Massari will welcome FIGC President, Gabriele Gravina, and Head of the Delegation, Gianluigi Buffon. During the meeting, the multilateral initiatives implemented by the United Nations to support football and sport as vehicles of peace, sustainable development, solidarity and international cooperation will be presented, including initiatives actively supported by Italy, as well as the FIGC initiatives in support of sustainability, solidarity and development.