The Serie C championship kicks off, with three clubs penalized: "Cost controls now."

In a few days, the Serie C championship will also begin on Friday, August 22nd, with Livorno-Ternana . 60 teams are divided into three groups. Lucchese and Brescia, relegated from Serie B, were unable to register, while Trapani (8 points), Triestina (7), and Foggia (3) will start with a ranking penalty that could also affect Rimini and Ternana. Last year, Taranto and Turris were forced to withdraw during the season: they were unable to cover salaries and contributions. It was certainly a tainted, if not distorted, championship. Some argue that Taranto shouldn't even have registered given the problems it had been dragging on for some time, but the FIGC and Covisoc (before the Abodi reform...) thought otherwise. The fact is that there was endless controversy. This time too, it seems that a (historic) club has been forced through too loose a rule: whether this is true will be found out during the season. Lega Pro, Serie C, has a complicated past but a strong desire to become a testing ground, a place for young Italians to play: eighty bankruptcies since 2011 (until 2014, the division was split between C1 and C2), and more than five hundred penalty points. The 2018-19 season was tragic, with five clubs bankrupt or unregistered, and twelve clubs penalized with a total of 101 points. And how many summers were spent at the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR), how many clubs failed to register. There were once 90 clubs, now down to 60: but that's still too many. The successive presidents at the helm of Lega C (Gabriele Gravina and Francesco Ghirelli) have done an important and complex job, it must be acknowledged. Just as the current No. 1, Matteo Marani, is doing now, in full agreement with the FIGC president, Gabriele Gravina. The first step was to tighten the registration requirements for the championship. In the future (fortunately) they will be even stricter than the current ones, and with liquidity indicators, it will be known as early as March whether a club can register for the following season. Marani also introduced the salary cap, currently only on an experimental basis. The Zola reform also encourages those who invest in young players. Small steps forward, but still not enough. Too much opacity, too many changes at the top, even during the season, at clubs. Furthermore, the FIGC has no control over foreign funds, as happens in Serie A as in Serie C. We know who the president is, but little is known about the ownership. But the FIGC and the League certainly aren't giving up. Some clubs registered on the last possible day—is this a warning sign? Matteo Marani explains: "I told the clubs that those who don't have the strength shouldn't participate in the championship. We must educate the clubs to spend what they have. In the future, there will be stricter controls, at a cost." Some would have wanted them already: at the federal level, a perhaps overly soft line has been chosen. The Rimini case, reported by "Repubblica," is grotesque. Serie C contributes only 6 percent of Italian football's overall debt (the rest goes to Serie A and Serie B), but stability is needed and, if possible, fewer adventurers circling the clubs...

World Games, 57 medals for Italy (but a tragedy)

Italy finished fourth in the medal count at the Chengdu World Games in China with 57 podium finishes, including medals from Paralympic disciplines. The multi-sport event, which concluded in China, features sports and disciplines not included in the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. China triumphed in the medal count with 64 medals, followed by Germany and Ukraine. Chengdu was also a tragic edition for Italy due to the death of Mattia Debertolis. A 29-year-old orienteering specialist from Primiero, Trentino, Mattia died of an illness that struck him during the middle race of the World Games. Debertolis 's body returned to Milan Malpensa yesterday morning. A chapel of rest has been set up in Transacqua (Trento) at the Oratory Pieve Sacro Cuore di Gesù Theatre. The funeral will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, at 10:45 a.m. The funeral ceremony will be held in an area of Val Canali, in the municipality of Primiero San Martino di Castrozza. Among those expected to attend are the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, and the President of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Luciano Buonfiglio .

The Bocce Federation is voting, with three candidates.

The Italian Bocce Federation (FIB) will go to the polls on September 13th in Borgaro Torinese (Turin). Marco Giunio De Sanctis, as is well known, became president of the Italian Paralympic Committee (CIP) on June 26th, thus having to step down from bocce after three terms. Three candidates are now aiming to replace him: Roberto Favre (the favorite), Giancarlo Gosti, and Corrado Tecchi. Twenty candidates are also running for the federal council. Meanwhile, the Shooting Federation (UITS) and the Modern Pentathlon Federation (FIPM) remain under special administration.