Italian Cricket has existed since 1793 and at that time, Admiral Horatio Nelson, the British commander during the American Revolutionary War organised the first-ever cricket game in Naples. A century later, the most popular cricket club Genoa Cricket was created in 1893 by the British trader, Sir James Edward Spensley. This Genoa Cricket was created with the Football Club by that same person but cricket hasn’t grown in the local population whereas football has become the Italian’s favourite sport.
Cricket has grown in popularity across the country and has spread in Europe after World War II. Italian cricket is regulated by the Italian Cricket Federation (Federazione Cricket Italiana), a governing body for the sport of cricket in Italy. Today the adoption of this regulator is nearly 40 years so the policy to expand this game in different areas and enhance the playing facilities is this body priority
Italian Cricket Federation History
Founded in 1980, the Italian Cricket Federation (FCI) is a single governing body in Italy that supervises all levels of cricket in this country. The board also oversees an academy for youth development at Grosseto Cricket Club. In 1995, FCI acquired associate status from the International Cricket Council (ICC), a cricket’s world governing body founded in 1909. Two years later, specifically, on 1st March 1997, this Italian regulator won the title as the Federazione Cricket Italiana.
Since the 2000s, the cricket player numbers have increased due to the immigration from South Asia, and today cricket is the fastest growing sport like football. The regulator has, thus, to apply effective policies and measures to supervise this sport’s environment. Currently, the federation wants cricket to be added to the Olympic Games 2024 that will be hosted in Paris. Although this project is supported by several European betting companies listed here - https://nonaams.com/siti-scommesse-europei/ as they have a big influence on governing bodies in European Union.
Italian Cricket Federation Duties
Italian Cricket Federation is with assistance from the European Cricket Council. Headquartered in Rome, this body was established for the development and administration of cricket in Italy and the selection of the Italian national cricket team. As stated above, this board is also responsible for regulating a community for the development of the young. Moreover, the entity also supervises the cricket sport within this country including the Italian National Cricket team.
This national team has been among the International Cricket Council members since the mid-1990s and represents the country in international cricket matches. One of the FCI’s main responsibilities is the preparation and development of the teams that represent Italy in national and international matches. In that case, the Federation asks the national selector or head coaches to evaluate players and select teams that are able to produce good results.
With a strategy to deliver world championships in the men's and women's games, the Cricket Federation has established initiatives to make the teams successful performing in each match. In fact, the Italian women's national cricket team represents this country in international women's cricket matches, and similar to the men’s national team, they have been a member of the ICC. What's more, this board is also in charge of the financial direction and commercial exploitation of cricket by raising revenue from the proceeds of sales for tickets at international and national matches.
The income management from the broadcasting rights and the sale of sponsorship are also FCI duties. The federation is, today, run by Simone Gambino, a former cricket player who has worked hard to progress and spread this sport not only in Italy but also in Europe. With the main goal to get the Italian cricket game's structure right, this chairman of the Italian Cricket Federation hopes that this sport will be added to the 2024 Summer Olympics.