WTI Magazine #64    2015 July, 10
Author : Elda Buonanno Foley      Translation by:

The Italians are "football maniacs". There is only one sport in Italy and it is "calcio". These are only some of the most popular statements when talking with strangers about sports in Italy. There is no doubt that football (we call it "calcio" and in USA it is known as "soccer") is very popular and the largest played sport: however, we do have other excellent examples of sports that are quickly gaining leading roles in different areas.

For years we have won medals in swimming and all the related disciplines, but also in volleyball, basketball, rugby, fencing and skiing, not to mention figure skating and boxing: despite all this, calcio is the most popular sport and thus here is my 6th stereotype and the reason why I wish to address it together with its main features.

Let me start by saying that I will not deal with the technical details: I am not an expert nor is this the forum to talk about leagues and regulations. I would certainly mention that in Italy we have Professional Leagues ( Serie A-B-C and other leagues) and several competitions during the year ( the Coppe Italia series, for example). On top of that, I could fuel criticism by saying that I am a fan of the Naples Football Club (it comes with the territory being a native of Campania, and a fan of the Juventus Football Club: this comes with the bloodline as my brother is a supporter of the same club since he was wearing diapers).

However, in this page, I would rather look into some historical details and features that better tell the story of the sport and indicate the basis of its fame.

Firstly, let me address the name: till the beginning of the 20th century, foot-ball was the name of the sport that was basically imported from England and that had become popular among the Italian young people. Only in 1907,the Italian newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport" suggested to replace the English word "foot-ball" with the Italian version "calcio", based on a suggestion by Luigi Bosisio, one of the first fans of the game and a leading figure in the main Football Association of that period. As a matter of fact, at that time, the sport was more a form of athletic discipline with rules that were copied by the English league. Luigi Bosisio suggested, and eventually helped to create, a different awareness regarding the sport, starting from the presence of only Italian players in the different teams. Bosisio worked relentlessly with the existing teams to create a proper Italian league with rules and regulations that were more appropriate for the locals. And he succeeded.

Secondly, even if the sport has quite a modern popularity, its origins go way back to the Ancient Greeks and the Romans who used to play a game with a "spherical ball" as a form of training sessions for the soldiers. Reminiscent of that glorious past, in Florence, every June, there is one of the most famous and historical examples that better identifies the role of "calcio " in the popular sense. In Piazza Santa Croce every year the four historical boroughs of Florence challenge themselves in what is worldly known as "calcio fiorentino": the "Bianchi"[Whites] of Santo Spirito, the "Azzurri" [Blue] of Santa Croce, the "Rossi" [Red] of Santa Maria Novella and the "Verdi" [Green] of San Giovanni play in a calcio tournament in the costumes of the XVI century to celebrate an historical day when in 1530 the Republic of Florence dared to challenge the Emperor Charles V. Every year, 530 people wear the costumes of that glorious past and support the players of the 4 teams who will celebrate the past by playing a game of calcio where the champion of the tournament receive a symbolic prize of a "cow".

The importance of the event does transcend its role for Florence and the Florentine people who anxiously wait the whole year to relive the past: playing the football game does embody the original and "healthy" value of calcio and how the Italians still live and see it now. The thousands of people that gather every year to watch the game in Florence, mirror the thousands of Italians in Italy and in the World that still see the sport as it is and should be: a healthy challenge, a fight of temperaments, a colorful occasion to celebrate traditions, local and national identities not to mention the passion and the enthusiasm that we, the Italians, are so famous for. Thus, Viva..lo Sport!