FSGC: new horizons in sight at the 2023 Christmas Gala

The seventh edition of the Christmas Gala was held at the Kursaal Congress Centre in San Marino, the Christmas event organised by the San Marino Football Federation and dedicated to all key figures in the domestic football landscape, as well as to the partners of the most beautiful sport in the world – interpreted in its Sammarinese dimension. This was a point underlined by Federico Zambelli Hosmer, co‑founder, executive and Chief Business Officer of BKN301 – main sponsor of the San Marino Football Federation and principal backer of the National Team and San Marino Academy, as well as title sponsor of the main football competitions in the country. “Football is an extraordinary vehicle for communication and visibility; moreover, we recognise many of our own characteristics in the Sammarinese football movement, starting with the proven excellence demonstrated in the country, combined with prestigious and ambitious projects at international level,” commented Zambelli. Guiding guests through an evening programme with a strong participatory and convivial flavour was an exceptional host in Federica Lodi – leading journalist and presenter at Sky Sport. To ensure the right emotional engagement on a night that sought to retrace, in a video, all the key moments of a 2023 now drawing to a close, the FSGC turned to the outstanding talents of the ensemble of the Istituto Musicale Sammarinese, made up of seven students. Conducted by Massimiliano Messieri, they offered the 250 guests a wide-ranging selection of pieces, from those with a strong football connection to the most famous Christmas classics by Bernard, Gruber and Berlin. Before the good‑luck toast from the Federal Council, gathered on stage, and the subsequent group photo – by now a ritual at these highly attended evenings – came the speech by the President of the San Marino Football Federation, Marco Tura. His address began with recognition of the abilities and a heartfelt thank‑you to all the players involved in Sammarinese football, without exception, as a starting point for charting new horizons in technical and organisational terms. In the first of these areas falls, in its own right, the San Marino Academy U22 project, which is already bearing promising fruit in its debut season. Tura then offered all those present a reflection on the electoral rules within the Federation. “They were drafted at a time when the organisational and corporate structure of the FSGC was very different from the current production and organisational levels. As conceived, they could expose the entire Sammarinese football body to a potential decision‑making standstill in the unfortunate event of the simultaneous loss of office of all members of the Federal Council. Therefore,” continued the FSGC President, “we might look with interest at the solution already adopted in Nyon by the UEFA Executive Committee, with staggered terms of office for half of the federal councillors, providing for an election every two years involving four positions within the executive of the San Marino Football Federation. This would be without prejudice to the three‑term limit, under the current regulations, and the four‑year Olympic cycle for the President. These issues will of course be discussed in the appropriate forums, starting with the Federal Committee, but with the aim of enabling the FSGC to pursue fruitful objectives in the future and to anticipate concrete risks in terms of international relations, cross‑cutting projects and shared information within a decision‑making body which, as things stand, can potentially be renewed in its entirety in a single electoral round.”

---