'Sports Diplomacy' on stage in Montevideo

(ANSA) - MONTEVIDEO, 15 GIU - The 'Sportivo Bella Italia' presented on Friday evening at the Italian Ambassador's Residence in Montevideo the shirts - strictly blue - for the new football championship.
    The sports diplomacy event organised by the Embassy promoted the Uruguayan team, which was set up last year with the aim of spreading the world of Italian sport among young Uruguayans and encouraging the cohesion of the large Italian community in the South American country.
    The event was attended by the Italo-Uruguayan footballer Fernando Muslera, former goalkeeper of the Uruguayan national team and Lazio, currently with Galatasaray, the club's owner; the footballers Gianni Guigou (sporting director) and Fabian Carini - all of whom are already members of important Italian Serie A teams -, as well as the club's president Rodrigo Lubetkin, the president of Peñarol (one of Uruguay's top teams) Ignacio Ruglio, the specialised press, sponsors and supporters.
    The 'Sportivo Bella Italia', engaged in the first amateur category of the Uruguayan championship (equivalent to the Italian Serie C), among other initiatives, is building a sports centre in the city of Mercedes, in the interior of Uruguay.
    "Sports diplomacy is an important tool for building bridges between Italy and Uruguay, all the more so at a time when Italy is achieving great sporting feats, starting with tennis and athletics, which testify to the absolute excellence of our sports sectors," Ambassador Fabrizio Petri stressed during the event.