The curtain has closed on the 90th CSIO in Piazza di Siena. The sporting event, welcomed this year by an oval without frontiers, recorded an extraordinary success with the public, with an estimated presence of over 50 thousand spectators, which in addition to sporting emotions, including the excellent second place of the blue team in the Cup of Nations, were also able to live in relaxation immersed in the “heart” of Villa Borghese.
“But the show here remains unchanged 365 days a year – he said Vito CozzoliPresident and CEO of Sport e Salute SpA, during the closing press conference of the event -. Piazza di Siena does not end here. He already lives in anticipation of the return of the CSIO in a year. The legacy of sporting events is as important as the event itself. A legacy connected to the sporting aspect but which goes beyond. This is the legacy of Sport and Health. Here, every day, Romans and tourists will be able to enjoy a lawn “without borders” with 3,500 square meters of greenery that mark an expression of sporting freedom. Space open to all, without material and immaterial barriers. On this grass, thousands of kids, students, families with children play, play sports in the open air and spend their free time between the Casina dell’Orologio and the Casina di Raffaello. And then again the whole area, of which we feel we are the “moral guardians”, as well as of the Felix Water Exhibition which we have restored. We are proud – continued Cozzoli – part of a very important sporting event, in an unrivaled setting. We are protagonists and every year we try to do more, the best possible to make this event even more beautiful, which does not end here”.
The General Manager of Sport e Salute SpA also spoke of the evolution, not only in sport, of the CSIO Piazza di Siena, Diego Nepi Molineris, in his capacity as Event Director of the event. “And it can still grow, a decisive and definitive leap forward is needed. From today – said Nepi Molineris – we are making a commitment with FISE to create a systemic action capable of generating greater global value. We have to enter the Grand Slam which includes the competitions of Aachen, Calgary, Den Bosch and Geneva. The time has come to work on a circuit project that has a common goal: to reach the top in the world, as is already the case in other sports. In this edition – illustrated the Director General of Sport and Health – the jackpot has grown to one million euros: when we arrived, it was less than a third. The goal is to reach three million. Even without the ticket office, but with an analytical vision, we have estimated an attendance of 50,000 spectators, and 1,000 for the Italia Polo Challenge at the Galoppatoio, a bet won by the Federation. Rai guaranteed 12 hours of broadcasting, the growth on social networks was 30% compared to 2022. 400 people worked on this event, with an average age of 26 which respects the mission of Sport and Health. Turnover exceeded four million euros: when this project started five years ago, it was 1.6 million, less than half. This is why Piazza di Siena believes in the upgrade”.
To raise the bar also came the words of Sara Riffeser Monti, Show Director of the CSIO Piazza di Siena. “The first big success was when registrations closed, because I had never seen a level like the one reached this year. The result of a very important effort by the Organizing Committee to reach the prize money of one million euros with eight races valid for the FEI ranking and an extremely important prize money for the Grand Prix. We have an increasingly crowded calendar, so reaching this level satisfies us a lot.”
Satisfaction was expressed not only for the organizational success of the event but also for what was achieved in terms of sporting results, was the President of the Italian Equestrian Sports Federation, Mark DiPaola.
“Our team’s second place in the Nations Cup – explained the federal summit – it’s very important: we changed our recruiter last year, which is why there was a transition period. This year we are starting to reap the benefits, this is the first stage of a very long journey towards Paris 2024 and we hope to be able to celebrate qualification in Milan for the European Championship at the end of the summer. We are witnessing the maximum international competitive moment, but our supply chain is much longer. We have about 100,000 boys riding horses – he concluded – and acquire very important values, all athletes who make incredible sacrifices for this sport”.