2021 was an important year for the sport of bowls. The Italian Bocce Federation, in fact, was one of the first to restart the competitive activity, as early as January, with the start of the high level championships of Raffa, Volo and Petanque ”.
Marco Giunio De Sanctis, Fib president in his second term, is (rightly) proud. “A choice that made it possible to arrive in December with the assignment of all the Italian titles, for teams and individuals, of the High level, of Sport for all by Raffa, Volo, Petanque, Paralympic Boccia, Beach Bocce and Paralympic bocce. In addition to the Italian and national championships, there was also the restart of international activity with the participation of Italbocce in the World Flight Championships in France and Petanque in Spain, but also with the organization of the world championship competition, again in Volo di Alassio from part of COLBA and FIB “.
The medals have arrived, even in the international field …
“Even the blues of the sport of bowls contributed to the golden year of Italian sport with the conquest of sixteen medals in the three world championships: five gold, six silver and five bronze”.
You recently pointed out that your Federation, despite the results, has been somewhat neglected in terms of state contributions.
“Yes, there was no additional contribution (ex state law on 32% of revenues) and half of the national sports federations were rewarded with increased contributions. In my opinion they could be given to everyone: it was a penalty for all Italian sport. Basically, I think that additional resources should have been assigned to all sports federations, heavily penalized by the pandemic, given the 2022 funding for sport, significantly increased compared to 2021 and then, through the same criteria adopted by Sport and Health, to distribute more funds to most deserving federations. The Bocce World Cup is no less worth than other World Cups in other sports. The athletes who have won important titles are all the same, as happens in the Olympics and Paralympics. While I still see clear discrimination within the individual sports disciplines. This must not happen, just as there must be no medals that matter more than others that matter less. Institutions must understand that sport is the same for everyone ”.
Now there are still 80 million to be distributed by Sport and Health: is your Federation preparing a project?
“Certainly the FIB is always at the forefront, we are carrying out various projects: from the start-up, to the more exquisitely sporting promotional activity, passing through the” Digital Civil Service “through” FIB Digitale “, a program already in place that has the goal of systematizing sports and social activities as an integration tool, thanks to the use of special apps and other digital skills. We want to continue to carry out important and far-reaching projects such as the one on the sports facilities for bowls aimed at increasing youth, female and Paralympic activity. We have already asked the Presidency of the Council for the contribution of the Junior World Cup in May (or in September in relation to the progress of the pandemic) to be held in Rome “.
De Sanctis underlines the merits of the work done by his staff, from the general secretary Riccardo Milana to the members of the Federal Council.
“Our Federation is a flagship of Italian sport because with all the inconveniences (the closures of federal centers, the many deaths and positive cases for Covid, etc.) it has developed, among others, women’s activities, Paralympic and youth, through schools, CABs and regional centers. In addition, the Extraordinary Assembly of the FIB will have extraordinary effects because we have welcomed all the soccer specialties in the context of the official federal activity (Raffa, Volo, Petanque, Beach Bocce, Paralympic Boccia, Paralympic Bocce, Lawn Bowls). But not only. We have introduced the AIAB into the federal basic charter. And more importantly, the Provincial Committees were abolished with the introduction of the Provincial Delegate, with the advantage of greater procedural and bureaucratic speed, as well as a drastic reduction in operating costs. Furthermore, the manager is no longer extracting a specialty, but is able to have knowledge of the facts on all specialties and issues, both at federal and territorial level. The extraordinary season ended with the prestigious “MB FIB Award”, the Oscar of bowls, now in its fortieth edition, in the presence of the sports and institutional authorities. The gala evening, which took place in Fano, more precisely at the “Teatro della Fortuna”, was a great success. I would also like to underline that in our sport we need the reinforced Green Pass. We were one of the few Federations that adopted a restrictive line right away. In fact, when only the basic Green pass or the swab was provided, we imposed the Super Green Pass with complete vaccination or documented exemption, in the latter case we ask for the negative swab: under penalty of exclusion from the races. We will also face 2022 with the same seriousness and rigor ”.