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by Roger Le Grove Rogers
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June 27, 2001

A follow up to Rimati's feature article about the lack of coverage by the Italian media of Italy's National Team at the UEFA Championship 2001

WSW is indebted to our correspondent Mario Rimati for translating and summarizing an interesting editorial that appeared today (Wednesday) in the sports section of Italy's national daily La Repubblica. It deals with the perpetual apathy of Italy's media towards its own women's national soccer team:

In Aalen, Germany, Italy's Women's National Team began its European Championship adventure by beating Denmark 2-1. Italy's two goals were scored by Patrizia Panico, but who in fact ever saw them? Basically no one.

 

Italy is the only team participating at the tournament that does not have a national television crew (from any Italian network) following it. Italy's victory
though was warmly greeted on Tuesday by the new Italian Minister for Equal Opportunities, (Italy recently had national elections), Stefania Prestigiacomo who invited everyone (ie, the media and others) to reflect on the need of giving more coverage to women's sports in Italy.

True. But on Tuesday the "Scorpion" Panico shot back with her own feelings on the subject, "In order for a woman to have any type of television audience in Italy she has to perform a striptease. Just look at Sabrina Ferilli who was watched Sunday night by about 5 million people on television and another 1 million at the Circus Maximus."

(36 year-old Sabrina Ferilli is one of Italy's "sex bombs", a new kind of "Sophia Loren" of Italian cinema. She is also a die-hard men's Roma fan. Back in March she promised that if her team would win the Italian championship she would publicly do a striptease. Roma did in fact win on June 17th and during Roma's official party last Sunday in front of about 1 million fans at the famous Circus Maximus, she walked down a stage overlooking the crowd in a (very) skimpy tanga bathing suit).

Panico added, "that when she and the other 10 national team players lined up prior to the clash against Denmark for the official team photo with a great sense of pride and strength in their hearts, there was nobody in front of them because there was no official photographer. He wasn't informed about the game, neither by the organisers of the event nor by Italian FA officials".

Even though the charismatic Carolina Morace may be Italy's head coach, her national team unfortunately still continues to be the "Rodney Dangerfield" of women's soccer: it just can't seem to get any respect!

 

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