Matteo Pessina: “Football can save the climate too. Fans, fight with us”

Matthew Pesinacaptain of Monza and first signatory – with Calabria, Berardi And Alex DelPiero – the petition to ask the world of football to concretely commit to combating climate change: why?
“Because when I believe in something, I commit myself to trying to carry it forward. We know that there is no time to waste when it comes to the climate. Certain climate changes are there for all to see and I believe that each of us has a duty to do something”.

You had already signed the petition of Green&Blue to politics that exceeded 230,000 supporters: when did you become aware of the climate issue? And how has it changed your life?

“I have always paid particular attention to the environment. I grew up in a family where there is a sensitivity for these issues and the importance of making small sustainable gestures even in everyday life. Then obviously the increase in environmental catastrophes has not than to increase the attention I already had. We are at a point of no return, we must do something to save our survival on the planet”.

A few months ago Paris Saint Germain and Mbappe ended up in the storm due to private flights used even for short distances. Do you take the issue of sustainability seriously at Monza? Can you give some examples?
“I want to say that Monza is a club strongly linked to its territory, to Brianza, and this desire to increasingly develop the path of sustainability is experienced every day in our sports center where we use a groundwater well for irrigation pitches without wasting drinking water. And the improvement of infrastructures has sustainability as its objective. Playing for a club with this sensitivity makes it easier to convey certain messages to the fans.”

Salernitana defender William Troost-Ekong has since January decided to offset the emissions caused by his team’s travels by helping to plant olive trees in southern Italy. What do you think of his gesture?
A great gesture and a beautiful idea. It comes from a man who is aware of what’s going on and I hope it will inspire others to do the same.”

The Premier League has been dealing with the sustainability issue for a few years. And also in the Bundesliga. We are late. Until now, topic-sensitive footballers like you were a rarity. But today the adhesion of the Italian Footballers’ Association has arrived: is something changing?
“Something is changing and I’m proud of it. We footballers, who have great visibility, have a great responsibility towards young people and towards all those who follow football. We must use it to send positive messages that inspire others”.

The ambassadors of your colleague Morten Thorsby’s We Play Green project are largely women: is there a greater sensitivity in women’s football?
“I don’t know if that’s the case. I’m sure that even in men’s football many think like me but they don’t expose themselves. However, it’s a great challenge to win together.”

The Sky documentary “Football vs Climate Change – The opponent to beat” talks about what football can do in this match: in addition to reducing climate-changing emissions, you can help give a message to the fans, reiterate that the climate crisis it is not a fad or a habit. But really, as the We Play Green slogan says, can football help save humanity?
“Yes, that’s what I want and what we’re trying to demonstrate. The situation is critical and if we don’t do something immediately, climate change will be irreversible”.

On April 22, Earth Day, we asked the League to let the captains enter the field with a band dedicated to the climate. The one with the Reading strips demonstrating, without words or numbers, that climate change is really happening. What do you feel like saying to those who still believe it’s an exaggeration and that instead we have all the time we want to change?
“Fight together with us, we are also fighting for you, but the more we are, the more the world will benefit”.

Istat said that in 2022 the highest number of deaths in Italy “occurred in conjunction with the coldest months, January and December, and in the hottest months, July and August. An apparently unequivocal signal of how much the climate change is assuming growing importance also in terms of survival, in the context of a rapidly aging country”. As a citizen, what reaction does this news arouse in you?
“It’s news that can only spur me on to do even more of what I’m doing. Now we have to play as a team like in football. It might be obvious to say this but only if there is joint action can an important result be achieved. Sometimes, even in everyday life, little is enough, a more accurate separate collection, being careful with energy or water consumption, reducing plastic. I am very attentive to these little things, sometimes I even become obsessive”.