BERLIN (GERMANY) – The lobby of a hotel in Kurfürstendamm is a rather atypical location to interview the president of Treviso Basket, Matteo Contento. But those who really love the segmented ball, and have been lucky enough to recover tickets that seemed unobtainable, he couldn’t give up a trip to Berlinto enjoy the basketball event par excellence at continental level, the Euroleague Final Four: «I came with my family to see this show: definitely not for scoutingbecause it is not our level, but to appreciate this fantastic world as a fan. The organizational and sporting aspect of these finals are elements that obviously thrilled me and finding friends here was very pleasant.
So let’s enjoy this weekend of sun and basketball in Berlin and then we’ll go back.”
To work for TVB?
«We are always working for TVB, regardless of the fact that I am here in Berlin: every day there are phone calls, emails, discussions, things to organize. I jumped on this train a bit quickly: for my part there has always been an activity in the back room of Treviso Basket to lend a hand however I could. However, when you move to the front line you become a person of image and perhaps for me it was the most tiring step. I’m more of a man of doing than saying, I’m interested in planning and not in proclamations.”
It hasn’t been an easy year.
«We all know that sporting results are one of the many components that guarantee the success of a club. What we want is to continue on the path of corporate consolidation while remaining with our feet on the ground, because escapes forward are always very dangerous for everyone. You always pay them in the end. There is no intention of taking a step back: this was demonstrated when, one year ago, we wanted to create a new sports project with Simone Giofrè and Frank Vitucci. The first year brought the hoped-for salvation: now there is a time for reorganization, because with the departures of Gracis and Vazzoler within a few months we have lost two important aces of the company.”
What are you doing?
«We are creating working groups that allow greater efficiency in the sporting, financial, administrative, commercial, marketing and communication sectors. A sports club needs to be structured and sometimes new opportunities arise from potential crises. The sporting result is always difficult to plan and cannot be the balance of success or otherwise. If we think that only those who win are good, every year we will have fifteen failures and one who triumphs. We are in the range of those clubs that are solid but cannot make flights of fancy: with a good organization, solidity, a project not only for the first team but also at youth sector level.”
This year, however, you can’t fix it, after three seasons in apnea.
«The fan is obviously interested in the result. However, it is also true that this year too the public has shown that it is extremely attached to the colours, regardless of victories or defeats. Every year sixteen people leave and two go down, we’re talking about one in eight. If we look at the teams that have been relegated in recent years, we are talking about clubs that have no less than us: Brindisi, Trieste, Pesaro, Cantù, Fortitudo. They are all historic and organized companies, with serious properties, but paradoxically they had the misfortune of not finding the right year. The drama is how the system works: if you are relegated to A2 you go from professional to amateur, if you are promoted to A it is the opposite. In both cases, albeit for different reasons, it is a trauma. We are in the top flight for the sixth consecutive year and we really want to stay there for a very long time, but we have to consider that every year will be tiring. Next season we could have some very high level newly promoted players, it will be increasingly competitive.”
We start again from Vitucci and Giofrè.
«I have great faith in them. The first year in a new reality is always difficult. Simone managed to spend less than the year before, despite the changes in progress. For next season the budget available to him will be more or less the same. Our main problem is the lack of revenue for the two pandemic seasons: from an economic-financial point of view we are healthy, but we have this deficit that we will fix by 2026. From that moment on, we will have another perspective on the championship. Until then, we will have to aim for salvation, hoping to be able to gain some satisfaction.”
Have you already started planning for 2024-2025?
«Tomorrow (today, ed.) we will have the board of directors of Treviso Basket and I will meet all the representatives of the club. Everyone will be there.”
