Napoli Present Commemorative Stamp at Castel Di Sangro

Opening Remarks

A new adventure of Napoli football begins in Castel di Sangro. And this time it starts with the tricolor shield on the chest. An important appointment that began three years ago with exposure to the Italian Cup and is now at the top of the national championship. A source of pride for the Abruzzo Region and for the president Marco Marsilio, who strongly wanted the blue team here in Abruzzo, here in Castel di Sangro, president Marsilio.

Marsilio:  Welcome, welcome back and welcome back to the Italian champions. Thank you Aurelio for having given this dream. Abruzzo is honored to host, being able to demonstrate that this is the land where its champions train. And next year we want the European champions because a year ago, I was doing this press conference and the president promised the Scudetto. Today, the cup is here you can touch it, admire it and photograph it. I think it’s right to be ambitious, you don’t need to be unrealistic, but it’s right to be ambitious. Napoli has shown that they can win and that they know how to win. Abruzzo has shown that they know how to host and how to build the conditions for a team to train and prepare best for the championship. It is what is happening today that will happen next year. I repeat, for us it is truly a pride to have shown that this challenge could be won. It started as a bet when Covid prevented us from planning to go perhaps further away. We opened our doors, we were the first. Angelo Caruso will also remember we reopened the stadiums to football and to the public when the stadiums were still closed. And to open a stadium, and let in a few fans there was even a risk of some complaints. We had to work very carefully and I also thank the prefecture who is doing a magnificent job with the forces of the order to allow this to be and remain only a great party made of joy. So then I invite all the Napoli supporters/friends who have come here not only to visit Castel di Sangro, but to visit the rest of Abruzzo to make this occasion the occasion for a discovery of a great surprise that Abruzzo always reserves. For a few kilometers from here, moving half an hour or an hour away, you get to the sea, you get over the mountains, you get to our artistic cities. We will always welcome you with open arms throughout the year. Thank you and Forza Napoli.

De Laurentiis:  This thing was born out of fault, but I would say at this point thanks to covid, because the doors were closed elsewhere. I got into the car and came here to Castel di Sangro where we discovered these extraordinary facilities. I knew Castel di Sangro because of the exhibitor who programmed from Rome in a single cinema that was here during the Christmas holidays because he always dismantled my films that collected God’s wrath after a few days, because you know the operator is also a big devourer and therefore he wanted to make as many films as possible during the Christmas holidays. So I got here and found that, a hundred-plus kilometers from Rome, an hour and a quarter from Rome and an hour and a quarter from Naples, there is everything I wanted. And therefore, we have made this agreement which sees us linked here for a good 12 years, of which three have already passed, this is the fourth year, therefore another eight remain, and therefore I always thank Marsilio who had this vision. Because it was not easy during Covid to take this responsibility. Therefore, the credit goes also and above all to him, who was then also opposed by someone of a different political color. But this is the typical Italian history. There have been more governments in Italy than in any other country in the world. And the day that this political competition ends, from the point of view of always wanting to put snares and traps on whoever is in government at that moment, finally this country will become and would become the best in the world…and then you don’t have to make sailor’s promises when you talk about the Champions League, because the Champions League is all a matter of luck. The 4-0 again Milan does not stay between us, I can’t tell you where it stays.

Caruso:  Good morning everyone, I’m a small mayor all in all. And today I really welcome with pride and emotion another page in the history of the relationship between Napoli, Abruzzo and Castel di Sangro. It is an important moment because we celebrate, if you allow me, we celebrate and remember, we renew the pleasure of having lifted the most beautiful trophy in Italy and of any other sport.  But certainly a moment that united, strengthened and validated, I would say, a great alliance of Abruzzo with the campaign of Napoli football and with Aurelio De Laurentiis. It was a bold gesture, it was remembered a few moments ago, but today we have proven that this postcard will carry around the stamp, the symbol of the victory. The emblem of the Scudetto will be what everyone is proud of, but will also demonstrate an ability, of an entire community, that the organization of the Abruzzo region, that the region that first conquered for the first time in our territory, we host a team that has conquered the championship. And here, you don’t have to applaud us, you have to applaud the team and its coach, past and present, and the great president. So for this I can only thank all of you. Because you are also those who have trusted us, who gave social, economic and visibility to our city, our territories. Obviously, the president Marco Marsilio gave a heartfelt but very affectionate greeting, but he was the first to trust our territory, our city, for a challenge made as a piloted route, in a few days we had to organize what you see today, then in 15 days, we succeeded. Today, we have recreated a showcase of our image, of the Abruzzo Region, of what we have obviously seen in the playground and of this land which tells it. Thanks to Poste Italiane for having also chosen this venue for the event. Thank you.

De Laurentiis:  But you must pray and you must ask the Neapolitan fans in Abruzzo to exceed the numbers that the fans have given as attendance in Trentino, because you are in competition with the other regions and therefore, if in Trentino 80,000 [people] visited, we hope 150,000 will come [here].

Host:  And at this point, on the first official date this afternoon, we want a full stadium for Napoli. On behalf of the Abruzzo Region, greetings also to the regional councilor for sport Mario Quaglieri, who is present in this room. Poste Italiane wanted to celebrate Napoli football with a stamp that forever enters the history of those who collect, the history of a parallel market that will acquire value over time. And today’s stamp is for football and is presented here in Castel di Sangro by the head of the commercial area of the Poste Italiane, Marco di Nicola

Di Nicola:  Good morning everyone and thank you for the hospitality here in this beautiful region, this beautiful city, Castel di Sangro. Yes, for most people a postage stamp is an indented square sheet of paper that is used to send correspondence, to send, in short, postcards from the holidays, you will all remember it like this. Lately, the stamp is also something more. It is the recognition that the Italian State wants to give, to become, to famous people such as in this case, to the Italian championship team, an acknowledgment that is given with an issue of something special with a very, very high circulation. Because the request was very high from the first moment. This stamp on this forex here on my left represents a small part of Naples in celebration, with banners of the victory of the Scudetto. it was, let’s say, created and painted by the State Mint the PZS and we are very happy today to present it here to this wonderful attentive audience. And in our stand there are also related products ranging from the simple postage stamp to the medallion, the collection of limited edition philatelic products is complete. There is also the silver coin that, with the president, we have the first analysis above, right at the State Mint a few weeks ago and precisely for the most particular event. And we have made a Bundle, a pair of coins and stamps, that for very few people, 200 people, will have a discounted price, practically giving it away. You will find all these products at our stand and, forgive me, in short, in addition to the greetings that I have already given, I also want to thank in particular the marketing structure of Napoli football, with which we have collaborated from the beginning. They have proven to us to be champions of Italy even in their time, in particular the writing of the communication, marketing have been splendid. They worked closely [with us] to achieve these products from the beginning. So thank you president also for making them available to us to create these things which are very important.

De Lucia:  Yes, good morning everyone. I have to say, I’m a little emotional because there is the pride of representing my company and then there is the fan in me who is very up to date because, as a super fan of Napoli, for me it’s like being at the park today. And yes, where many other players are therefore falling back, precisely in small municipalities with under 15,000 inhabitants, while post instead invests through the Polis project from the beginning of the year and until the end of 2026, there will be around 7,000 post offices where post offices will concretely testify to their own value, that is the proximity to the territory. In Abruzzo, we will do about 300 and, speaking of concrete actions, the first 30 were practically completed in the first six months. I will close only by thanking all the colleagues who, at the stand you see behind you, have worked and will work for the whole period of the retreat of Napoli, to offer our services to all fans and enthusiasts. We are talking about 30 colleagues including technicians and operators in charge of sales to their managers who, among other things, are here in the room and whom I want to thank for what they have done and will do. And then, in short, Forza Napoli sempre!