And if the Tokyo Olympics took place without theItaly ? This possibility is not excluded in any case according to Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI).
In an interview with the Rai 3, shortly before the new year, the 61-year-old former futsal player claimed that “The risk of going to Tokyo without an anthem and without a flag is very high”. In question the interference of the Italian government on the prerogatives of the Italian Olympic committee via a text of law supervising in particular its financing.
However, such interference is contrary to the Olympic charter, which therefore poses a threat of exclusion of the Transalpines for the Games scheduled for this summer.
“Everyone is worried”
This threat does not come out of nowhere. The Italian law was adopted at the end of 2018 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already expressed its concern on several occasions, its President Thomas Bach having even written to CONI explaining that an exclusion was possible if the law was not changed.
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Giovanni Malago therefore confided his apprehension: “Everyone is worried, the athletes, the coaches. The risk is real. No one wants sanctions. It would be scary. “ 200 days before the start of the Games, the Italian question is on the agenda for the next IOC meeting on January 27, even if the state of emergency in Japan and organizational concerns could push back the question.
However, the president of CONI met the head of the Italian government, Giuseppe Conte in order to find a solution. A dialogue of deafness for the moment. “I hope that those who have the honor and the responsibility to find a solution will at least keep their word”, he simply indicated. The case is therefore still ongoing.
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