Olympics, the new minister Abodi doubles: he will have the proxies of Milan-Cortina

The refrain is always the same, but the more time passes the more your breath becomes short: “You can’t lose even a minute”, because the all-Italian Games of 2026 are really just around the corner. Coni president Giovanni Malagò repeated it yesterday, after a surreal Sunday of announced appointments – that of Letizia Moratti as CEO of the Milano Cortina Foundation – and denials, of evening meetings and names flaunted, whispered, burned. “We hope to find a solution in a few days, if not hours – added Malagò – there is a shortlist of names and the IOC is in a hurry”.

The turning point

—

The new government is also in a hurry, aware of how high the stakes are and that risking a commissioner now would be very painful for the image of our country. For this reason, beyond the list of names mentioned by the president of Coni, a new hypothesis is making its way: the Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi could in fact receive the proxies for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Abodi would therefore see the margins of maneuver of his department grow significantly, which would thus act on the sports segment on which the new minister is already more than prepared. It is in fact worth remembering that Andrea Abodi had been chosen just as CEO of the Milano Cortina Foundation already at the beginning of September: on his name there had been full convergence of all the members and he himself had enthusiastically taken up a fascinating and demanding challenge. Giorgia Meloni, who has always respected him, had then stopped the appointment in view of a role in the new government, a proposal that Abodi immediately accepted with a great sense of responsibility. But in a difficult moment like this, given his guaranteed competence on the Milan-Cortina issue from a sporting and managerial point of view, he would be ready to go back to dealing with it.

New profiles

—

It remains to be seen whether this project can be carried out regardless of the choice of a CEO. In fact, it is more likely that one will proceed in any case to the appointment of an CEO or at least of a general director of the Foundation who can be present in the area and closely follow the developments of the path while remaining in contact with local authorities. In the Sunday afternoon meeting between Coni, Cip, entities and Abodi himself, the name of Diana Bianchedi emerged several times, who since April 2020 has been a member of the Organizing Committee of Milan Cortina, of which she had also led the candidacy, with the role of coordinator of the Olympic project. This is a profile certainly supported by Malagò and well known also to the minister, certainly competent even if less managerial than those that have been evaluated in recent months. But if Abodi were to take the “Olympic” powers, it is possible that the choice would fall on the fencing Olympian, who already has a well-established dialogue with the IOC, even if last-minute insertions cannot be ruled out. The CEO not only will he have to intervene in a very short time on the subject of plants, but he is called to act on revenues and sponsors. Tomorrow or at the latest Thursday there will be a new summit among the members of the Milano Cortina Foundation with the aim of having a shared profile to be proposed to Prime Minister Meloni. So far, the cross vetoes of the various stakeholders have blocked the process on several occasions. Only one name had made everyone agree: Andrea Abodi.