Elkann: "Juve, why do you need Motta. Year zero but extraordinary potential"

Exor CEO: "The new generations at the Olympics make us understand the meaning of sport: it must entertain both those who do it and those who watch it. The match with the Next Gen is an opportunity for a big party at the Stadium"

John Elkann loves the Olympics, he savors their spirit. He started in 2006 and never misses any edition with his family. In Paris he enthusiastically watched Djokovic's feat and the Italian gold in the women's doubles and Musetti's medal , in the 100 final. He applauds Platrinieri "extraordinary". And yesterday he returned to gymnastics, to see Simone Biles again, who had impressed his daughter Vita in Rio: "But after Tokyo there were so many doubts, we watched the series on Netflix. Sport is an accelerating life, the psychological part plays a predominant role" . But there is another central reason why the CEO of Exor, president of Ferrari and owner of Juventus was at Casa Italia in recent days. The adhesion of the Agnelli Foundation to the Coni Trophy, with a project to enhance sport and school.

"We have been carrying out projects with Coni for years. We started talking about it seriously at the Rio Olympics in 2016, we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the birth of the Agnelli Foundation and we were celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Senator Giovanni Agnelli, founder of Fiat. The Foundation's scope is education. We wanted to try to reinforce the idea that sport is equally important. We started with: "Sport at school, at the school of sport", based on the testimonies of athletes who had won the Olympics and Paralympics in the schools of their respective regions, so that they could tell how important this school of life was. Then we also supported athletes who worked to help them prepare for the Olympics. This year we asked ourselves what we could do more consistently. The Coni has had a wonderful initiative for 9 years, the Coni Trophy: mini-Olympics for Under 14s, which will be from 3 to 6 September in Catania. On the 4th, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella will inaugurate it. We decided to combine the trophy with the Foundation, to get the message across that sport and Education go hand in hand. If you play sports you study better, you have better organizational skills. Sport is an enabler to study more effectively and takes care of your health. It is very important in Italy where sport plays a significant role, but a tension can be seen between competitive and scholastic commitment. We want to work with Coni to encourage an ever-increasing number of citizens to play sports. To convey the concept that sport and study are not in conflict, but rather they feed each other. And this is demonstrated by a lot of research. Furthermore, Italy is a reference country for technical training skills, planning".

Juventus presents itself at home. "I will talk about it at the Juventus-Juventus Next Gen

match . We started in 2023 for 100 years of ownership, no one has such a long-lasting relationship as our family. Which is not only linked to ownership, but to passion, it is of an emotional nature. After all, the membership of each of us here too, is linked to what we have seen and experienced with our loved ones. So we thought of a family celebration. And this will be Thiago Motta's first at the Stadium. There will be a beautiful atmosphere, 40 thousand people, a climate of sharing".

Year Zero. Does that mean you can also not win? 

«It depends on how you interpret year zero. I think that sport is a great training ground. I showed my children, at Roland Garros, the slogan on the Chatrier court: “Victory belongs to the most tenacious”. And tenacity is not losing the desire to get back into the game in difficult moments. The important thing is to face life positively. It's about stopping, resetting and starting again. Year zero is when you press the reset button. You move forward without thinking about what has happened. Strong athletes and teams are those who have this ability: not putting yourself in a negative loop that then leads to looking for excuses, seeing everyone against you. On the other hand, if you compete, compete with the strongest in the world» .

Is there anything that football can take from the Olympic world? 

"The Olympic spirit makes us understand how nations, cultures and religions can coexist in a harmonious and peaceful way while still trying to push themselves to the maximum. The Olympic Village and the gyms are a very positive example of civilization, competition in its purest form. It happens, therefore it can be done, in any area of ​​life."

Hamilton in Ferrari. 

«As always when things happen, they happen very quickly. This was the moment when Hamilton and Ferrari found each other. Hamilton comes to win. And Ferrari with Hamilton is stronger in anticipating the challenges of the future. You can see that in the current F1 there is real competition, 4 teams very close to each other. This is a championship that is finally open. There are great drivers. The important thing in F1 is to race at your maximum potential. Once you do 100, you see how high you are. Those with more experience, Hamilton and Alonso have shown, have more consistency and consistency counts. Hamilton is unique in motorsport, he is very motivated to become world champion for the eighth time and he is proving it. He does not come to Ferrari to enjoy his retirement. In the various recruitments we focus on motivated people, with the desire to compete». 

Olympics, Thiago Motta and the youth

Let's go back to the Games, the kids of Generation Z show a different approach to victory and defeat. The Pilate case is emblematic. «Reaching the maximum potential is what you have to try to do, competition stimulates you to do it. But you must not be obsessed with measuring the effort. What De Coubertin says is not a contradiction, if you don't participate you can't win. But there are two ways in sports: do you focus on the happiness of winning or the disappointment of losing? They are both great motivational stimuli. What emerges from this generation is that they look on the bright side. They join in and if they win they are happy, which is different from having the anxiety of being different, of the pain of defeat. And that's what my wife and I have always tried to stimulate in my children» .

Sport should be fun.

"Both those who do it and those who watch it. And when you see that those who practice it have fun, you have fun. Sport is exciting."

So Juventus also took Thiago to entertain? 

"It is important to approach a new generation with Thiago Motta. We have a young team. Italian football is no longer a destination. In the middle of your career you go to the Premier League, at the end to Saudi Arabia. The Italian championship is for young people who need to develop, complete themselves. This is the reality and it is not a sin at all. The real sin is not looking at reality. Let's go back to year zero. The team is young, we need to work with them. Thiago is young, he has experience, he was a player himself. This is what we need and what we can build on. The Juventus collective has extraordinary potential." 

Young people to attract new fans too?

"There is no doubt. The participation is not what it used to be. Beyond TV contracts, the important thing is to bring the public back to the stadium, to experience an event. We are proud of the success of this stadium, it is constantly improving, with a significant investment. But people who cannot see it at the stadium must be able to participate, so we will have a very strong social amplification. We have built a new activity like the Juventus Creator Lab to be producers of content of all kinds. And this gives the possibility to follow us also to the alpha generation. Then the world of women is in enormous expansion. Seeing now that football is also a women's sport is extremely positive." 

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