On the final morning of the first edition of Giffoni Sport, the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, was a guest at the Antica Ramiera with its ambassadors. Before the meeting, the minister gave a brief interview in which he spoke about the Olympics that started yesterday and the importance of supporting initiatives like Giffoni Sport:
“Every year, it is a pleasure to come back here and see the commitment that is renewed and expanded, because this year the festival also has other contents: this year there is a much more significant presence of sport, which is a factor of individual and collective well-being. On the other hand, the way to prevent some issues is to keep fit, and that’s what Giffoni does throughout the year. It’s the daily work that leads to this event, Giffoni never takes a break.”
Abodi revealed the elements who make for the festival’s success: “Dialogue is important. This is why Giffoni has kept being a success over time, which is confirmed year after year. There is this opportunity to meet, to listen and to dialogue with each other and to also take on commitments that are confirmed and assessed year after year. To come back year after year and say, ‘this we have done, this is still to be done.’ It is the tool that allows us to close distances, overcome distrust and restore a relationship of trust.”
The minister also spoke about the importance of establishing a relationship of trust between these initiatives and the institutions that support them: “Beyond the financial aspect, which I consider important but secondary, it is the investment of trust that is the most significant, from which we expect an important return that can be measured every day. We must put young people in a position where they do not see us from afar, to participate in events not only justified by lessons, but by life.”
In conclusion, the minister spoke about the Olympics, which started just yesterday: “I saw little of the opening ceremony; I turned on the TV just as our athletes were passing by, and I saw our joy.”
Abodi also addressed the issue of the boos directed at the Israeli delegation: “I also watched the arrival of the Israeli delegation. That is a topic I have already addressed: I believe it is important that sport remains a neutral zone to some extent, while also being able to confront with human sufferings. Knowing how to distinguish between the aggressor and the attacked, even though at some point we will have to find solutions that are nonetheless for lasting peace. In this situation, I think that peace can be built with a two-state model, overcoming the logic of war and systematic aggression, which inevitably leads to intensified responses. Sport in general, and the Olympics and Paralympics in particular, should be a moment where the universal message is oriented towards being together and not excluding, except for those who decide to exclude themselves.”
