The 251st National Council of CONI met this afternoon, at 17:30, in the Salone d’Onore of the Foro Italico to discuss the following agenda:

1) Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on February 14, 2017: approved unanimously.

2) President’s communications: Malagò opened the proceedings by greeting the newly elected members of the Council and by handing the Golden Star for sports merit to the athletes’ representative Raffaella Masciadri before commemorating the sports personalities who passed away in the last three months and underlining the important results achieved by Italian athletes in the same period.

The President (photo by Simone Ferraro) has then revealed – in view of the forthcoming designation of the Istituto di Credito Sportivo’s authorities by the Council of Ministers – that the name of Paolo Vaccari has been proposed as CONI candidate for ICS’s Board of Directors.

Regarding the Coni Servizi-National Sports Federations events, the focus has been placed on the importance of the efforts made by the Body to guarantee an organisation that lives up to the expectations in reference to the next events, especially considering the overlap of 2017 TIM CUP Final (football) and the Italian Tennis Open Internazionali BNL d’Italia on the most crowded day at the Foro Italico, and also all the other events organised in partnership, including the Athletics Golden Gala Pietro Mennea and the swimming race Settecolli. Special mention should be made of the inclusion of Piazza di Siena in the Equestrian Sports list and the pride of hosting the Archery World Cup finals at the Stadio dei Marmi. Among the 2017 international events that took place in Italy, there was also a mention of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Pesaro and the Mountain Bike World Cup finals.

The President recalled the budgeting for the upgrading and the expansion of Acqua Acetosa’s anti-doping laboratory and the transfer of the library of the former Civis building to enable a better accessibility of the facility managed by the School of Sports.

The Council then discussed Milan’s candidacy to host the 2019 IOC session, underlining the great job done by the group led by Diana Bianchedi and her team, waiting for the formal investiture which is expected to take place in Lima in September.

To close, Malagò proudly spoke about CONI’s budget, which earned the approval of the vigilance bodies thanks to record numbers in terms of revenues, and expressed his satisfaction about the reduction of the maximum limit of non EU-nationals which dropped to 1149, 11 less than last year, and about the introduction of a new discipline into the register of the ASD (Amateur Sports Clubs), reaching a total of 385. CONI is proud to be the only organisation to follow many disciplines, responding to the wishes and the wills of the generations to come. Malagò has finally greeted the Council, reminding them of tomorrow’s elective meeting schedule and revealing that the facilities located at the beginning of Viale delle Olimpiadi will be named respectively after Ondina Valla (the former hostel) and Edoardo Mangiarotti (the building adjacent to the Sala delle Armi), whereas the Sala Polifunzionale of the Palazzo delle Federazioni will be named after Vittorio Pozzo.

The following people commented on the report and other themes: Maurizio Casasco (Sports Medicine), Giovanni Petrucci (Basketball), Angelo Sticchi Damiani (Automobil Club), Ugo Claudio Matteoli (Sport Fishing and Underwater Activities), Marco Di Paola (Equestrian Sports), Franco Chimenti (Golf).

3) F.S.N .- D.S.A. - E.P.S. activities: The Council unanimously approved the following resolutions: 1) proposal for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers according to the article 22 of the Law of 30 July 2002, no. 189 as amended, maximum annual limit of 1149 non-EU athletes that will practice professional or in any case compensated sports activities as far as 2017/2018 season is concerned 2) Integration – under the term “Skyrunning” – of the list of sports disciplines eligible in the National Register of Amateur Sports Clubs (ASD), reaching a total of 385.

4) Administrative affairs and CONI budget: The Council unanimously approved the 2016 budget.

CONI’s 2016 budget approved today by CONI’s National Council presents an economic breakeven (+ € 0.26m), in line with 2015 result and with the budget estimate disclosed at the end of last year. The production value is equal to € 458.1m, the main components of which are the MEF resources (€ 415.5m), the contributions received from the Ministries (€ 12,7bn), the commercial incomes due to the utilization of CONI’s brand (€ 15.5m) and the contributions received by Local Bodies directly from regional committees (€ 8.9m).

Production costs, which amount to € 456.3m, have been mainly allocated for the benefit of National Sports Federations, for over € 289m (around 63% of the total production costs),€ 248.9m as direct contributions and € 40.4m (VAT excluded) as services in kind performed by Coni Servizi SpA with regard to the fee of the annual service contract. The other elements of the production costs are represented by the contributions to the other financed (€ 29.7m), the fee of the service contract referred to the activities performed by the Company on behalf of CONI (€ 58.6m VAT excluded), the amounts allocated to the State by way of VAT and in application of the rules of public spending reduction (€ 23.8m, 5% of the production costs), and the costs sustained directly by CONI’s regional committees (€ 27.7m, 6% of the production costs).

Having nothing else to discuss, the Council was concluded at 18:30.