To the President del CIO of the IOC
(International Olympic Committee)
c.c. To the President of CONI
To the President of FIBA
To the President of FIP

 

Distinguished Mr President of the IOC (International Olympic Committee)

It is Massimo Antonelli writing to you as the Tam Tam Basketball president, an association operating in Castel Volturno, a southern Italian town where about 50% of its inhabitants are of foreign origins, mostly from Africa. Tam Tam Basketball especially deals with the children of these immigrants.

In the last 6 years we have involved dozens of foreign kids in the basketball.
We cannot help but recognizing that – thanks to the commendable commitment of many people- including institutions representatives (sports and non-sports) – there have been significant headways in Italy in order to make sport more accessible to foreign minors.

However, in sport as well as in life, every success must become the premise for a greater challenge. This is the reason why I am turning to you.

Many young people cannot enroll yet because one of the documents required by the Basketball Federation is the “permesso di soggiorno”, which many young people in Castel Volturno do not have.
It is a deep injustice which affects the kids who would like to play this sport but they cannot.

I wonder why is “permesso di soggiorno” mandatory given that those teenagers regularly and profitably attend state school.

Why does sport oppose school efforts to be inclusive? Why?

Moreover, those kids who don’t have a “permesso di soggiorno” are the ones who live in dire straits, therefore sport would represent an opportunity for social redemption.

Distinguished President, I must also add that these guys feel uncomfortable to confess me they don’t have a “permesso di soggiorno”, as if it were their fault.

I can imagine and fear that many foreign kids in the world give up playing sports because they do not have “some document” required by international and national sports federations. Not allowing equal opportunities for an ever-increasing number of people is highly unfair.

For instance: this photo is showing 4 young people who cannot be enrolled in the Castel Volturno team because they do not have a “permesso di soggiorno”.

 

I am not turning to Politicians, but to Sport. I am not addressing to just one nation, but to all.

Actually, I also feel the urgency to highlight that while some sports organizations admit all young people, other organizations do not. The latter reject some young people just because they do not have a certificate.

This is an unreasonable and harmful discrimination which clashes with the fundamental values and aims of sport itself.

By invoking the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter, I hope that this letter could convince the IOC to intervene on these issues in favor of the role of sport in today’s and in tomorrow’s world.
I also hope that the IOC, in the exercise of its prerogatives and responsibilities, will instruct all sports federations throughout the world to remove the barriers between young people and sport.

 

The president of TAM TAM BASKETBALL ASD ONLUS.
Massimo Antonelli

 

 

Links :
Website www.tamtambasketball.org
Al Jazeera 48 minute documentary about Tam Tam story: