Playing bullying offside

MILAN – An educational seminar was held today at the Auditorium Pirelli to teach about the prevention of bullying and cyber bullying. The project was born from collaboration between the Education, Research and Universities Ministry and FC Internazionale Milano with the support of the club’s Global Main Sponsor Pirelli.

Guests were welcomed by Pirelli’s Chief Sustainability & Risk Governance Officer Filippo Bettini, Director of the Regional Schools Officer for Lombardy Marco Bassani and Community Relations Officer and Partnership Management Supervisor Alessandro Albiero from FC Internazionale Milano.

The aim of the seminar is to provide teachers with the tools to identify and combat instances of isolation of individuals in young people by creating a sense of ‘us’ rather than ‘me’ according to a new educational approach  so that students acquire a suitable emotional, cognitive, ethical, social and multicultural balance.

During the afternoon, with around 160 boys and girls from the Inter Academy attending, the play Invasione di Campo was presented which tells the stories of sportspeople and coaches who were affected by anti-Semitic policies. The young Jewish Arpàd Weisz who won a Scudetto with Inter before being deported and killed in a concentration camp. Matthias Sindelar and the team of bakers in Kiev. Sporting heroes of the 1930s whose lives were cut short by the terrible events of World War Two.

To bring the day to a close, there was a speech and goodbyes from FC Internazionale Milano’s CEO Alessandro Antonello and the Nerazzurri’s Academy Director Roberto Samaden.

"To be here today means not hiding from material which is unpleasant to teach but talking about and confronting incidents of bullying, cyber bullying and racism which all affect hundreds of our guys and it's a great sign of your passion. Thanks to the Regional Educational Office in Lombardy and thanks to Pirelli for hosting us here and supporting this project and thanks to our guys from the Academy here today," said the CEO. 

Finally, Roberto Samaden spoke: "I also say thanks, I've had the fortune of working for this club for 27 years and it's always taught me about how important it is to value a person. It's true and I can confirm it. Our objective is to help everyone who passes through our Academy and our club to develop. Ahead of everything, we see the value of a person and that can't be taken for granted. It's the key characteristic of our club."