Binaghi: in sport, when money runs short, the best work gets done
In Turin, on the sidelines of the ATP Finals presentation, Italian tennis federation president Angelo Binaghi says football, with its turnover, lacks the push that drives a federation to revolution.
✨ Riassunto AI
Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian tennis and padel federation (Fitp), spoke in Turin on the sidelines of the presentation of the new ATP Finals edition, as reported by Italpress on November 12. His argument starts with tennis: twenty years ago the federation was in a situation similar to football's for lack of results and for having lost the ethical and moral principles that should underpin institutions like theirs, though in very different financial conditions, because it had gone bankrupt. Football, he says, still has a remarkable turnover, and precisely for that reason it lacks the push that in every federation sets a revolution in motion. His conclusion is that in sport, when money runs short, the best work gets done.
Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian tennis and padel federation, spoke in Turin on the sidelines of the presentation of the new ATP Finals edition. His words are reported in an Italpress news release dated November 12, which collects them in a single quoted block. The subject is not the tournament but a comparison between two sports worlds, tennis and football, and the starting point is his own federation's past.
According to the agency, Binaghi recalls that twenty years ago the federation found itself in a situation fairly similar to football's as far as the lack of sporting results went, and for having lost "the ethical and moral principles that should underlie institutions like ours". The similarity, he stresses, stops at results and principles: the difference lies in the economy. "But we were in a very different situation from an economic point of view: we had gone bankrupt, whereas football still has a remarkable turnover," is his account. And it is from that economic difference that he draws the rest.
On his final point, Binaghi says there is "not that push which normally, in every federation, sets a revolution in motion", and concludes that "in sport, when money runs short, the best things get done": it is "our history too", he adds, while "football is not in that position". It should be taken for what it is: the judgement of one federation's president on another's situation, expressed at a public event and reported by the agency. It is not an economic data point, and the source gives no figures on football's turnover and no response from the football world; nor does it say when or how the tennis "revolution" Binaghi refers to took place.
A note on the context in which the remarks were made: the end-of-season tournament in Turin starts on November 15, and the schedule for the first two days is in the tournament's official calendar. During the same period the network also covered another ATP Finals novelty, audio description for blind and visually impaired spectators, while on jobs and contracts there is the agreement on fair pay.