On March 27, at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations, Marco Tardelli, an icon of Italian and international soccer, met with numerous ambassadors from countries accredited to the UN to discuss the role of soccer and sports as means to promote peace and international cooperation.
In his opening remarks, Italian Permanent Representative Giorgio Marrapodi introduced Marco Tardelli as a model of tenacity, integrity, discipline, and determination. “It is precisely this spirit that today, in the face of proliferating conflicts and disputes, is required of the international community to overcome divisions, promote unity, and return to speaking a common language based on shared values,” the Ambassador observed.
Robert Skinner, Director of the United Nations Department of Public Information, presented the UN’s “Football for the Goals” initiative, which is aimed at confederations, players’ associations, and other key stakeholders in the world of soccer, as well as the media and commercial partners, to help raise public awareness of the behavioral changes and sustainable practices needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Present were the ambassadors of the Friends of Football Group—established following the UN’s approval of World Football Day—who could also take a peek at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic torches, on display at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations since November 19, the day on which the United Nations General Assembly approved by consensus the resolution on the Olympic Truce: “Building a better and peaceful world through sport and the Olympic ideal” promoted by Italy.
On the very stage of the United Nations General Assembly, Marco Tardelli took the floor on March 26 in front of an audience of many Italian and international high school students participating in the Change the World Model United Nations.
