Pisa, 8 June 2024 – It is Giuliano Pizzanelli the new president of Cus. In a last minute twist, in fact, the outgoing president, Stefano Pagliara, he sent an email withdrawing his candidacy without giving further explanations. At that point the election of Pizzanelli, who had already been vice-president of the university sports center in the past, was elected practically unanimously with 31 votes out of 33 available. It will now be up to him to try to rebuild a bond with the city which over time has seemed rather frayed with a haemorrhage of members which has brought the Cus to its lowest levels: 2780 members.
The members’ assembly also elected the board of directors which will include Cecilia Baldera, Lorenzo Bellinvia, Carolina Boddi, Eleonora Lanfranco, Giulio Messerini and Edoardo Moggi. The board of auditors has been confirmed: Gian Gastone Gualtierotti (president), Aurelia De Simone and Francesco Galassi (advisers). The new governance will also have the task of restoring serenity between the various sections of the Cus (Athletics, Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, Rugby, Tennis , rowing and 5-a-side football) have been divided in recent years when faced with strategic choices. This is also demonstrated by the votes cast by the assembly: there were 40 eligible voters but in the end only 33 (with one blank ballot and one void) expressed their preference, just under a third of the electorate gave up having their say and this too appears to be a wound that needs to be healed quickly by Pizzanelli and his team (Messerini will most likely be the deputy vice president).
Also because from next year the number of those entitled to vote will expand by at least another 57 new members, plus another 9 new members being defined, bringing the assembly of those entitled to a maximum of 113 members. In his program the new president promised to “increase university courses through more detailed information, giving greater possibilities of timetables and variety of disciplines, strengthening information within university departments, and increasing collaboration with the degree course in Motor sciences, creating study and meeting spaces for university students at Cus, but also attracting students interested in sport by raising the quality level of the competitive teams”.
Among the objectives are the improvement of “the youth offer for basic physical activity and the offer of solar fields with more welcoming areas and dedicated spaces”, to support competitive teams, especially those that have a good number of university students, also through benefits for the students themselves, adequate compensation for coaches, timely reimbursement of travel expenses and the creation, where possible, of teams for Paralympic sports”.
