Persistent complaints by former Italian Olympians about being overlooked as relay torchbearers in favour of celebrities prompted a response from politicians, led by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini,
on Tuesday.
“There is no respect for us champions,” cross-country skier Silvio Fauner, a five-time Olympic medallist, told Gazzetta dello Sport, echoing earlier grievances by Alpine skier Kristian Ghedina. The relay began in Rome on December 4.
Fauner expressed his indignation that quiz show celebrity Gabriele Sbatella, known as the Uomo Gato (Cat Man), was chosen over athletes like himself.
“I consider this an incredible insult,” said Fauner, who won gold in the Italian relay team at Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.
Speaking on behalf of his Olympic team-mate Marco Albarello and Turin 2006 gold medallists Giorgio Di Centa, Cristian Zorzi, and Pietro Piller Cottrer, Fauner stated, “We are all angry. We have not been involved in any way in any initiative for the Winter Olympics in our country. No torchbearers, no ambassadors, no role whatsoever. Nothing.”
“They preferred people from the entertainment world, such as Uomo Gatto, and singers who do not embody Olympic sport,” Fauner added.
Ghedina had made similar remarks the previous month, but Fauner’s comments spurred a reaction from politicians.
“The choice of torchbearers is incomprehensible and disconcerting. All the more so since it was not discussed with Matteo Salvini’s Ministry of Transport, which has been more committed than anyone else to making the Games happen,” wrote Salvini’s far-right League party in a statement.
Sports Minister Andrea Abodi has requested the Milano-Cortina organising committee and the Italian Olympic Committee for “information to understand what the selection criteria were.”
“In principle, it is obvious that sports legends, those who have made history, should be held in very high and absolute esteem. I too was a bit surprised,” said Abodi.
The torch will pass through the hands of 10,001 bearers across Italy on its two-month, 12,000-kilometre journey to the San Siro stadium in Milan for the opening ceremony on February 6.
(With agency inputs)
