At the Rome Urbe Sport Logistics Centre of the Italian Air Force, On Tuesday, 7 July, the inauguration ceremony for the Defence Paralympic Sports Centre (CSPD). The event was attended by the Undersecretary of State for Defence, Senator Isabella Rauti, the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Luciano Portolano, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Antonio Conserva, and the representatives of all the Armed Forces.
The new infrastructure represents a fundamental milestone for the Defence Paralympic Sports Group (GSPD), founded in 2014 and currently comprising 88 members, including active and retired military personnel, civilian Ministry of Defence employees, and contracted civilian athletes, who regularly represent Italy and the Armed Forces in national and international competitions. From today, the Centre will have offices, an administrative headquarters, and dedicated staff, pending subsequent infrastructural expansions on the Urbe site – planned between 2027 and 2028 – which will include the construction of a new gymnasium, accommodation, and multimedia rooms.
“Today, we are not only inaugurating a new infrastructure, but we are finally giving concrete form to the founding principles of the Defence Culture: inclusion, social cohesion, individual growth and full participation.e,” he said Undersecretary Rauti, highlighting the importance of operating according to the “Country System” model through a solid interinstitutional network.“It is the ‘we’ that prevails over the ’I‘. This is the spirit that animates Paralympic athletes, always capable of throwing their hearts beyond the obstacle.”.
It General Portolano has defined the new centre “a place where conditions of disability are not seen as a limit, but as a challenge”in framing the CSPD in full continuity with other support initiatives such as the Veterans Centre. Addressing the athletes, who were defined as “athletically squared” the Chief of the Defence Staff added: “Today, we are giving the country a place that expresses the authentic values of our Armed Forces, where courage embodies hope, sacrifice is transformed into rebirth, sport becomes a sign of resilience, but above all – as he often says Minister Crosetto – a Family that leaves no one behind”.
The inauguration of Paralympic Sports Centre At the Italian Air Force's Rome Urbe facility, this once again demonstrates the Defence's concrete and synergistic commitment to promoting sport not only as a rehabilitative and competitive tool, but as a supreme driver of inclusion and a living testament to resilience for the entire community.
