No basketball in the Rebbio gym «All the fault of only twenty centimeters»

The gymnasium in via Giussani is no longer suitable for matches, the fault of twenty centimetres. With the hunger for sports facilities from which our city suffers, pending the reopening of the spaces to be redeveloped without permits, another bad news arrives in Rebbio for basketball lovers. «The federation has notified us of the revocation of the suitability of the field – explains Franco Passalacqua, vice president of Alebbio – this after thanks to the sacrifices and a private donation we managed to fix the parquet. An intervention of 10 thousand euros all at our expense. Without having the Municipality, the owner institution, spend not even one euro. All for the benefit of the schools that use and manage the gym. The basketball federation, however, disputes a technicality, a question of 20 cm».

«Emails, telephone contacts and photographic documents attest how the field in via Giussani has been brought to a width of 14.20 centimeters – writes the Italian basketball federation – when the regulations define the width of the fields at 15 meters or 14 metres, without some possibilities for intermediate measures. The new situation cannot therefore be accepted and leads to the revocation of eligibility with immediate effect.

Alebbio has about 300 athletes, of whom 230 are in the basketball teams. The stoppage of matches in via Giussani involves the categories of young people and adults, not younger children. «For us it is a cry of alarm – says Mauro Borghi, manager of the basketball sector of Alebbio – despite all our efforts, the spaces for organizing sports activities in Como are decreasing instead of increasing. Now we don’t know what to do if we have to unsubscribe the teams from the competitions in progress».

The Municipality is working to reopen the gyms in via Cuzzi and via Giulini, but the time frame has moved to September. Several high schools, from Giovio to Magistri, have not opened their doors to external realities for years. Playing is getting harder and harder.