(PRIMASPORT) VERONA – His fourteen years as president and three terms already held put him in pole position for his fourth election to lead the Italian Winter Sports Federation. But Flavio Roda needed two-thirds of the vote to reassert himself, and in the end he was denied a 57.881 TP3T. He was not elected and cannot be re-elected. At the elective assembly in Verona, the city that hosted the closing ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games last February, the person who launched the FISI's new course was Antonio Noris from Bergamo, who received 35.971 TP3T votes. More importantly, he won over a third of voters with a platform that presents itself as a watershed moment and focuses, as the candidate himself emphasized, on ethics, sport, and evolution. With this result, having failed to reach the quorum for the election of the president, the assembly will be reconvened and asked to express its opinion within 90 days. Ordinary governance of the federation will take effect, and Flavio Roda can decide to remain in office until the new elections, from which he is excluded, or resign and allow a commissioner to take over. According to the calendar, the vote to elect the new president would take place in the middle of the competitive season. Immediately after the results of the polls, Antonio Noris (who, without Roda, remains the candidate with the highest number of votes) raised the possibility of adopting online voting for the new elections, thus eliminating the excessive proxy system. This method, moreover, is already provided for in the bylaws and would streamline the process, allowing the deadlines established by the regulations to be met.
At the elective assembly in Verona, 622 accredited members (303 affiliates, 174 athletes, 145 coaches) cast 82,950 valid votes out of 83,160. Roda received 48,015 votes, Antonio Noris garnered 29,838, and Roberto Bortoluzzi 2,087 (2.521 TP3T). On the eve of the Verona event, Noris summarized his program's priorities at a press conference, listing the need to ensure adequate resources for the grassroots, establish a permanent safety fund, rid the federation of bureaucracy, convene permanent general meetings of ski clubs, include more athletes and committees in national teams, and ensure the full integration of the Paralympic world into the FISI. Safety is the overriding priority. The accidents that led to the deaths of Matilde Lorenzi and Matteo Franzoso (the Verona assembly dedicated a minute of silence to the two unfortunate skiers) cannot be dismissed as pure fate. And this conscious focus on safety—according to Antonio Noris—must extend to all activities and situations involving the organization of winter sports. Therefore, it should focus on competitions and training, but not limited to slopes and facilities. (PRIMASPORT)
