EXCLUSIVE, GOLDEN FOOT 2005: PRESENTATION ON 18 APRIL IN TURIN

Patrizia Pighini, a football players’ agent for a long time, has been in charge of “The Champions Promenade " Golden Foot” international event since 2003. By now Patrizia and Antonio Caliendo, the creator of the initiative, have been working on the “Walk of Fame” of international football for three years. In a short time Patrizia was able to convince several protagonists of football history to come to the Principality of Monaco and to leave their footprints in this prestigious spot. As the third edition is drawing near, we have interviewed Dr. Pighini to get more information about the award and about its third edition. - Patrizia, how much of the time you should dedicate to your activity as an agent must be, instead, devoted to the Golden Foot management? A lot. By now it has almost become my only job. We started from nothing three years ago, and had to fight against a wall of indifference and wariness, because there are already many awards with a well established reputation and that had many difficulties in trying to get space in the area of the international football awards. However, we only want to fill a still empty space with our event, because we give the Golden Foot award to the most important champions in the history of football, to the great legends, to the myths of this sport and also to an internationally renowned player, who is still in activity. The Golden Foot award, moreover, is an award to the career and is completely different from the other awards, especially because it makes all the football fans worldwide have a decisive role in the poll through the internet web site www.goldenfoot.com . Besides, let’s not forget the players’ footprints. - Which means? Tell us more. We did not want to create only an award of great value (the Golden Foot award is a golden cast weighing 200 grams and a golden star with diamonds). We have been trying also to create something with a strong effect, something that could leave a tangible and lasting mark just like the footprints on “The Champions Promenade”. Ours is not only a roll of honour, a list of the awarded players, it is rather a museum en plein aire on the beautiful seafront in Monte Carlo. - Just like the great movie stars of Hollywood! Sure. For the movie stars the handprints/footprints were just a way to identify them, an extemporary expedient, because, actually, there is no strong link between their profession and their handprints/footprints. As regards the football players, on the other hand, their footprints can be really considered as their “tools of the trade”. And this is what makes our event so peculiar. We want also to point out that a further peculiarity of the Golden Foot is that players who played in different periods place their footprints on the same promenade, different personalities and different stories, memories and emotions in the history of football, that the fans lived through these great champions. - What do you expect from the 2005 edition? I expect to take another step forward as regards the international recognition of the award. I would like to realize that there are fewer people wondering “what the Golden Foot is” and more people interested in the development of this initiative and in the players that we contact to ask them to come here and place their footprints on the Champions Promenade. I would like the Golden Foot event to encourage the debate among the supporters about who were the real legends in the past and about who among the players still in activity really deserves this award. What makes this sport peculiar is also the spreading of the so-called spoken football, and the Golden Foot event should encourage the debate and the passion among the supporters. Finally I would say that for a football player, considering the bases and the spirit of our event, this award can be a recognition of absolute value, that can really crown a career devoted to this sport. - What is the role of the media partners within the event? A basic role, because they promote the event and the poll to choose the Golden Foot winner. They also participate in the selection of the nominees, and encourage the debate on the value of the players involved. Our aspiration is to develop worldwide the competition to win the Golden Foot among the Brazilian, Argentine, German, English, French, Italian supporters, and so on. We want to make them get involved more and more to have their champion win through the poll on our web site. Therefore, it is more that obvious that the media partners have an essential role. - Any forecast? Could you mention the name of any of the players running for the award, that is to be given on August 29th in the Principality? It is still too early to mention some names. On April 18th in Turin there will be the presentation press conference. On that occasion the 2004 Golden Foot winner, Pavel Nedved, will introduce the 2005 nominees. The winner will, then, be chosen through the votes of the supporters between April 18th and the end of August. As regards the legends of the past we have a list of names chosen by the Media Partners and we are currently trying to contact them. Also this year we will try to keep high the level of the football talent, that distinguished the players invited during the past two editions. The high-class and the football value shall be anyway the main requisites of our choice. Maybe this year we will take into account the players coming from the countries that are still missing among those ones that have already been awarded by the Golden Foot event: for instance, Brazil, Russia, or England, Germany, or ”¦ Well, if you follow us, you will find out soon. BY DUNDAR KESAPLI

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