Paola Egonu has the right to ask for respect without becoming an icon

The belief that sportsmen are spotless knights ready to lash out at opponents, cuirassiers capable of enduring everything, insults and pressure, we don’t know when it started. However, it has taken root (not only) in our country, alongside that other belief, quite difficult to eradicate, that champions must also be champions off the pitch, examples to follow. They may not be. And they can get discouraged, from personal crises, let off steam without fighting for a cause. Ask for respect without becoming icons. It has happened to many. These days a Paola Egonu.

The Italian women’s volleyball team had just won the bronze at the World Cup by beating the United States, when the opposite approached its agent, Marco Raguzzoni, and said, almost in tears: “You can’t understand, this is the last. match in the national team. They also asked me why I’m Italian. I’m tired. ” A private outburst that became public thanks to the diffusion of the video. A private outburst of a player who dreamed of another medal, gold, which most said could be within the reach of the Azzurre, or rather that they had to win. It didn’t happen that way. The defeat against Brazil in the semifinals forced the girls to the final.

Yes, we are always very eager to give vent to disappointment when the beliefs preceding a great event collide with reality. It never ends that you are satisfied with the possibility of a third place when you take the first for granted. And in these situations there is always the fool who passes from criticism to insults, especially on social media, which are often racially motivated when you are black.

Paola Egonu blurted out. It is not easy to endure, patience is not mandatory, for everyone, even for the champions. It is not possible to accept not to be considered Italian if you live in Italy, were born in Italy, work in Italy, play for Italy. She has vented to whoever is closest to her. A lot of things are said when she is angry, she does not always live up to what is said when she is angry. It is not to be made a case. There are those who have done it. Because between manifestations of esteem and closeness, even institutional, among those who denounced the idiocy of racism, you have pointed your finger at her “goodbye” to the national team. To then open the theme of the harmony lost in the locker room, of favors done to the opposite (it is from the dawn of sport that in teams the rules for champions have been less rigid than for others. Giuseppe Bruscolotti summarized better than anyone about Maradona: “Do you enjoy more freedom than us? I don’t see the problem. He half-serves he can decide a game, we don’t”). It was also insisted that Egonu should have become an icon of anti-racism for a long time, as if having dealt with the subject several times was not enough.. Sunday Paola Egonu stressed that “if you take a step back (ie say goodbye to the national team, ed) can be used to send a message, so I’ll do it “. He doesn’t have to, at least not necessarily. He has nothing to prove off the pitch. He has to do it on the pitch, subnet.