Arianna Fontana lashes out at President Gravina after resignation

Gabriele Gravina has resigned as FIGC president: two days after the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup, the number one of Italian soccer has decided to leave office. New elections have also been set for June 22. The decision comes after the Azzurri’s third consecutive absence from the World Cup and at the end of a series of statements that have aroused strong controversy, including the definition of “amateur sports” attributed to other disciplines.

Among those who did not take it well was Arianna Fontana, Italy’s most-medaled athlete ever at the Olympic Games, who was quoted directly by the now former president during the press conference while talking about alpine skiing, even though the Valtellina native is a specialist in short track, a discipline in which she has won 14 Olympic medals (three gold, six silver and five bronze).

Through her Instagram profile, Arianna Fontana responded as follows, “On Tuesday night, after the game was over, I expressed myself through a sequence of stories on Instagram. I expressed how seeing the national team miss a world qualification hurt, because as a country we are more, because we have to want more, because we can and have already proven it in so many contexts and in so many disciplines: at the Summer and Winter Olympics and Paralympics, at the World Cup, in tennis, in motor sports…”

“I shared this thought even before hearing and reading the statements of President Gravina and other Italian colleagues. I was also quoted during the press conference, but more than feeling personally called out, I think the real point is another. Today we need a more modern and more respectful reflection on the real value of Italian sport and those who carry it on at the highest level. And perhaps even the definition of “professional” should take this more into account than other aspects.”

“I may be among the few athletes who are not part of a military sports group, but there are so many male and female athletes who are still referred to as “amateurs” when in reality they live, work, train and compete as professionals every single day. With the same sacrifices. The same pressure. The same responsibility. And often with fewer protections and less recognition. And so perhaps the word “professionals” in sports should really be redefined. Beyond labels,” Arianna Fontana concluded.