Ice hockey boss makes it clear: “No 15 Italos on the Olympic team”

An interview got the ball rolling last week. In it, the FISG boss announced that Italy would compete at the 2026 Olympic Games with 15 Italian-Canadians. And “that there won’t be many places left for local actors”. SportNews asked Gios directly – and received clear answers. In the interview you say that 15 Italos should flood the national team at the Olympics... “Unfortunately, my statements were not reproduced correctly. I never said that 15 Italos should play for Italy in the games. Not least because the FISG has had an internal rule for years that states that a maximum of seven players trained in other countries (including goalkeepers, editor's note) are allowed to play in the national team. This is anchored in the 'Agenda 2022' and has always been adhered to during my time in office. So there is still a limit. We don’t want the same situation as several years ago.” So what’s the deal with the 15 Italos? “This project was developed in collaboration with CONI and the Ministry of Sports. Accordingly, 15 players from North America should be offered to clubs in this country so that they are eligible to play for the national team after two seasons. Of the 15 players, a maximum of seven will take part in the Olympics. This must be underlined. Our goal is to bring in very good players, not mediocre ones, who will make the difference and significantly increase our quality. But without changing our structure, which is still based on players from Italy.” How exactly is this supposed to work? “We want to attract players of a certain wage bracket to Italy who would not normally come here. To make this work, we help the clubs financially. However, we at the FISG do not distribute this money directly, but rather it comes from the Ministry of Sports. Instead of going to Germany or Austria, the players come to us for two seasons.” How did this idea come about? “As the host country, on the one hand, it is our duty to field a strong team. On the other hand, there is a risk that we will be denied participation if our team is not competitive. The same thing threatened to happen in China this year. Only after a special commission had watched the Chinese games was it decided to take part in the Olympic Games in Beijing.” Finally: How does the association want to prevent the players from being considered Italos but ultimately not putting on the azure blue jersey? Like Dustin Gazley, Angelo Miceli or Anthony Bardaro? “This is a huge problem. Unfortunately I don't know how to solve it. It makes no sense to force a professional to play if he doesn't support it. We always have to give 110 percent and play with our hearts, otherwise it won't work. The players mentioned are good, but not exceptional - so they also have to be there with full commitment. Unfortunately, the problem of cancellations not only affects the Italos, but also the locals. We only want motivated players.”

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Ice hockey boss makes it clear: “No 15 Italos on the Olympic team”

An interview by Andrea Gios caused a real earthquake in Italy's ice hockey scene last week. Now the president of the Italian ice sports association FISG is clarifying his position to SportNews.

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