A petition to save Trieste basketball

A petition has been created with the goal of saving Pallacanestro Trieste. “Trieste is not just any square for Italian and European basketball. It is a city that has helped build the history of basketball since its origins, with Ginnastica Triestina the Italian champion in the first championship in 1929-1930. Today this tradition, alive and competitive, is in danger of being challenged,” it reads.

“Pallacanestro Trieste has proven its worth on the court, with important results even in the European arena and with one of the most numerous and participating audiences in Italy. A reality built over time, supported by thousands of fans, cannot be treated as a mere transferable sports title. A sports club can be sold. But a sports culture cannot,” adds those who promoted it.

In a short period of time, over a thousand certified signatures were collected.

A sports culture that in recent years had also manifested itself through ambitious choices in the market and in the construction of the roster. In the 2025-2026 season, the club led by patron Paul Matiasic and general manager Michael Arcieri had worked hard to set up a competitive roster, focusing on profiles of character as well as talent. Among the most significant new arrivals was Mady Goundo Sissoko, a 210 cm by 113 kg Malian center from the class of 2000, signed after a star season in the NCAA championship with the California Golden Bears, where he had finished with averages of 8.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. His story, from the rural village of Tangafoya – a remote Malian community with no electricity or cars – to European parquet floors, had won over the Red and White fans immediately.