Luciano Buonfiglio is the new CONI president after John Malagò, elections the challenger has been overcome Luca Pancalli. Originally from Naples, 74 years old, Buonfiglio is the twelfth president in the 111-year history of the organization, the first from Naples, and was chosen by the 309th National Elective Council gathered at the multipurpose sports hall of the Olympic Training Center "Giulio Onesti" in Rome. He received 47 votes out of 81 electors. Pancalli, on the other hand, stopped at 34 preferences. No votes for the other candidates: Pierluigi Giancamilli, Carlo Iannelli, Franco Carraro and Mauro Checcoli. At the end of their speech (lasting eight minutes), Giuseppe Macchiarola and Duccio Bartalucci withdrew while at the opening of the meeting, the candidacy for the presidency of Ettore Thermes and Saimon Conti was rejected.
Luciano Buonfiglio new president of Coni: thanks to Luca Pancalli
“President Malagò, first of all a greeting and a thank you for these 12 years. Thanks also to those who have been close to me in these six months". These are Buonfiglio's first words after the Coni elections. “I would also like to underline the correctness of Luca Pancalli – he added -. My warmest greetings go to him. I cannot fail to underline that the members who are here are an added value. This is not the time for words, facts await us. We will elect a council because there is a great change, vote with your brain before your heart”.
Luciano Buonfiglio: who is the new Coni president
Born on November 15, 1950 at the foot of Vesuvius, in the Posillipo district but Milanese by adoption since the age of 15, Buonfiglio has always been linked, first by athlete until he became president of the national movement, to canoe and kayakHe was an Italian national team member 36 times, from 1968 to 1980, an athlete of the Fiamme Oro, and in 1976 he participated in the Montreal Olympics, reaching the repechages in the 1000 meters K-4.
After retiring, he became a national councilor of Federcanoa, a position he held until 1988. From 1990 to 2003 he was a member of the European Canoe Association, the European federation. Buonfiglio was president of the organizing committee of the World Championships (1999) and the European Championships (2003) of speed in Milan. Since 2005 he has been president of the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation (he will resign because he cannot hold the double role) and from 2013 to 2018 he was vice president of Coni during the first mandate of Giovanni Malagò who in the last days had launched him as his successor. In addition to sports, Buonfiglio has been involved in the insurance and banking sector holding the role of central Corporate director in Ras/Allianz.
Franco Carraro in the running: what he said before the elections
“I have made my candidacy available – he had said Franco Carraro in his speech as a candidate on the occasion of the National Elective Council of CONI – “to ensure a unitary transition, the duration of which we will have to evaluate together, because in recent years there have been deep divisions between us and some representatives of Federations have never participated in the life of CONI. Luciano Buonfiglio e Luca Pancalli they have quality and great sporting experience, both have the qualities to be able to be president of the CONI, but they are both leaders of two opposing sides even if both have assured that the primary objective is the unity of the Cones“. Then, addressing the voters, he added: “For this reason, I leave you free to vote if you believe that one of them can achieve the goal of our unity”.
Coni Elections: Presidents Up to Franco Carraro and Giovanni Malagò
From the Marquis Carlo Compans de Brichanteau de Challant a Luciano Buonfiglio. 111 years have passed since the foundation, on 9 and 10 June 1914, of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). A native of Chambery, Compans de Brichanteau had been the Italian representative in Athens at the first Olympic Games in 1896 and president of the temporary Committees organized respectively for the Olympic Games of 1908 and 1912.
He followed Carlo Montù, from 1920 to 1921, but his presidency did not last long because he resigned due to the failure to assign the 1924 Olympic Games to Rome, which were then assigned to Paris. He was followed by Francesco Mauro (1921 – 1923), Aldo Finzi (1923 - 1925), Landon Ferretti (1925 - 1928), Augustus Turati (1928 – 1930), the commissioner Iti Bacci (1930 - 1931), Leandro Arpinati (1931 - 1933), Achilles Starace (1933 - 1939), Rino Parenti (1939 - 1940), Raffaele Manganiello (1940 – 1943), the commissioner Alberto Bonacossa (1943) Ettore Rossi (1943 - 1944), Pucci Pucci (1944) Julius Onesties, commissioner from 1944 to 1946 and then undisputed president until 1978, when he was elected Franco Carraro.
In 1987, following the appointment of Carraro as minister, he was elected Arrigo Gattai who remained in office until 1993 when he was defeated in the elections by Mario Pescante. The latter remained at the helm of the CONI for little more than one term but in October 1998 he left the presidency following the scandal that engulfed the Acqua Acetosa anti-doping laboratory. Three months of regency of the vice-president followed Bruno Grandi. On January 29, 1999, during the National Elective Council, Gianni Petrucci was elected and remained in office until 2013 when he left the presidency of the Coni after being elected number one in Italian basketball. During Petrucci's presidency, Italy was awarded the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics. For just over a month, it was governed by vice president Riccardo Agabio.
On February 19, 2013, the victory of Giovanni Malago on the challenger Raffaele Pagnozzi, secretary general of Coni and until the eve the big favorite. After 12 years of Malagò era – he hoped for a derogation of the presidency until after the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milan Cortina 2026 – today the election of Luciano Buonfiglio.
