It does not belong to the club of phenomena, whose names are on the shirts that children wear. However, a coach of the caliber of Fabio Capello called Damiano Tommasi “the most important player” for the Scudetto that Rome won in 2001. Ductility, dedication, and, above all, reliability: these are the winning weapons of Tommasi, now fifty-one-year-old, who since 2019 has hung his shoes on the nail and from 2022 is mayor of Verona, at the head of a center-left administration.
After a glorious sports career and head of a large family, who made him throw himself into politics?
“Once the mandate as president of the footballers (the union of ball professionals, editor’s note), concluded, a proposal for commitment for the city has arrived. I have always pushed so that people play in the civic field, so I couldn’t pull back. The circumstances of life (4 of the 6 children are of age, we are now stable on Verona and travel much less than a time) have allowed me to take that step ».
How does his victory explain, as a politics outsiders?
«No particular secret, except that, for the first time, the area that asked me to apply has focused on a unique candidate. Furthermore, those who ruled before me worried not so much to design the city, but to manage. This explains why a new proposal, projected towards the future, towards young people, for a Verona European city, has been welcomed. Having the future of the city at heart, even before the political deployment, was my goal, also because I never had party cards ».
His political commitment has its roots in a social sensitivity that comes from afar. He gave birth to a school named after Don Milani. How come?
«I did the Civil Service in Caritas as a conscientious objector (first professional footballer in history, editor’s note) and I met the figure of Don Lorenzo Milani starting from his letter to military chaplains; Then I deepened Barbiana’s experience, which became the inspiration to launch a new equal school on the outskirts of Verona “(…)
((photo above: ANSA)
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