Nehru cup group stage

Premier League Next Gen Cup: Italian Ambassador Antonio Bartoli sees sports as a powerful tool for fostering international friendships. Bartoli believes initiatives at the grassroots level could inspire a new generation of football talent while strengthening cultural ties. In an exclusive interview with IANS, Bartoli highlighted former World Cup winner Italy’s plans to introduce football coaching programs for underprivileged children in India given the number of football lovers in the country.

“Very much so! Frankly, I do believe a lot in sports diplomacy because our task is to build bridges and I think sport is a great catalyst for friendship. Unfortunately, we have different passions because cricket is not so popular in Italy. But I think especially that you are a continent, so especially in some areas of your huge country, there are football lovers, and what we are working on.

“The idea that we are developing, I just arrived, is to have coaches for youth teams. For example, starting with Italian clubs they can send their coaches to teach kids, especially underprivileged kids, in summer camps, and then organise a tournament out of it. That would be a wonderful experience for these kids, and maybe a way of discovering new talents. There have been Italian players, above all Alessandro Del Piero, who came to India to play, and so we can have them as guests to launch this project,” Antonio told IANS in an exclusive interview.