Luca Pancalli (born 16 April 1964) is an Italian sports manager and former swimmer. He is currently the Commissioner of the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

Biography

After having won a national youth modern pentathlon championship, Pancalli became a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

in 1981 following a tumble from a horse during an international race in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Despite this, he was still able to partially move his arms and took part in four different editions of the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

from 1984 to 1996, winning eight gold, six silver, and one bronze medal in swimming. He was appointed president of the Italian Paralympic Committee in 2000. He was then appointed vice-president of the

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

, being the first disabled person to take the job. On September 21, 2006, after Guido Rossi resigned, Pancalli was appointed Extraordinary Commissioner of the FIGC (

). On February 2, 2007, following gratuitous violences in the

Sicilian derby The Derby di Sicilia or Sicilian Derby in English, is a local derby between Italian football clubs Calcio Catania and S.S.D. Palermo. Catania and Palermo are the two main cities on the island of Sicily, and the teams are fierce rivals. However, t ...

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

which led to the killing of a policeman, Pancalli announced his intention to indefinitely suspend all football activities in the country. This is the second time such an event happened, the first time being after

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

supporter Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed by an alleged

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

member called Simone Brasaglia in 1995.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pancalli, Luca 1964 births Living people People with tetraplegia Italian sports directors Paralympic swimmers of Italy Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Italy Paralympic silver medalists for Italy Paralympic bronze medalists for Italy Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Italian football chairmen and investors International Paralympic Committee members Paralympic medalists in swimming Italian male freestyle swimmers Italian male backstroke swimmers Italian male breaststroke swimmers Italian male butterfly swimmers Italian male medley swimmers S4-classified Paralympic swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships 20th-century Italian people 21st-century Italian people

Biography

See also

References

External links