The great events opportunities not to be missed

The civil tone with which the debate between the three main candidates for mayor of Turin took place did not, of course, rule out controversial episodes. For example, the one between Valentina Sganga and Stefano Lo Russo on sporting events in the city. The 5 Stars claimed the assignment of the ATP Finals in Turin among the merits of the Appendino administration and the candidate of the center-left coalition recalled how this result was achieved by virtue of the international success achieved at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Even the chronicles of recent days have focused on this theme. Tonight and throughout the weekend there will be the inauguration at Sporting, the training ground for the eight best tennis players in the world, of the renewed arena.

A structure intended for both sporting and theatrical and musical events. The ten-year anniversary of the Juventus stadium at Continassa was also celebrated, an innovative model. Yesterday, however, the disappointing news of the rejection of Sestriere as the venue for the 2029 World Ski Championships.

An event that could represent a partial compensation for the loss of the 2026 Olympics.

The opportunity to insist on the “politics of events”, in sport, in entertainment, in culture has often been the subject of accusations by those who think it is contradictory with respect to the manufacturing vocation of the city. The grillini, in the 2016 election campaign, for example, had made it one of the key points of the program. But also from other political parties there was criticism for an alleged waste of resources that would have been better used for other objectives. Fortunately, time has done justice to a false problem. Precisely the industrial vocation of Turin, as it must be exercised in the declination of contemporaneity, requires that the city be attractive on a national and, above all, international level. Only a lively center, full of opportunities for cultural, tourist and sporting entertainment can offer the investment opportunities that Turin needs. Not to mention the economic repercussions on the territory that these events produce in the service sectors.

If we want to interrupt the flow of young people who, after studying in our universities, run away attracted by job offers, but also by the possibility of living in a more intellectually stimulating environment, keep our city on the sports, musical and cultural showcases of the whole world is key.

That’s why the ATPs that will take place in Turin for at least 5 years are useful, that’s why it was wrong to give up the 2026 Olympics, that’s why the dispute between the manufacturing and the touristic-cultural vocation makes no sense. If we want to participate in the future, we must urgently throw stubborn, but now outdated, old mentalities in the trash.