Press release for the official presentation of the 33rd Scopigno Cup 2025 and the awarding of the national and international Manlio Scopigno and Felice Pulici 2024-2025 prizes.

Today, Tuesday, July 15, the press conference presenting the 33rd Scopigno Cup – World Football Tournament – for the Under-17 category was held in the Hall of Flags at the European Parliament in Rome.

In the presence of top local and national political officials, Scopigno Cup President Fabrizio Formichetti outlined the extensive sports and entertainment program for the 2025 edition, which will take place from August 19 to 22. This year, too, the tournament will be covered by RaiDue and RaiSport, both for the opening match and the final.

This year, the Scopigno Cup will once again combine sport with numerous collateral activities, ranging from solidarity and prevention, to tourism, art, and even fashion. The 2025 edition will feature a fashion show organized in collaboration with teachers from the Rieti Art School and the EPN school, coordinated by Suhaila Mia, the event’s patron. It’s with a touch of emotion that I cannot help but recall Nicholas Graziani, our mascot, who recently passed away. From this year on, we will honor him by establishing the ‘best emerging young player’ award, which will go to the youngest player in the tournament who has demonstrated skill, character, and civic-mindedness.

Among the various speakers, World Cup champion Filippo Inzaghi, whom the Scopigno Cup organizers have chosen as the ambassador for the 2025 edition, also noting the awarding of Honorary Citizenship by the Municipality of Rieti.

“Rieti is always in my heart, and I wanted to greet everyone present ahead of this 33rd edition. I will never forget the tournament victory against AC Milan, which was the first success of my coaching career. Even today, I have indelible memories of those days and treasure them in my showcase of achievements.”

A final comment was reserved for Dr. Roberto Gabrielli, Head of the Lazio and Abruzzo Regional Directorate of Intesa Sanpaolo, who has chosen to support the Scopigno Cup for the eighth consecutive year.

“It is with great pleasure that we renew our support for this sporting event, because we consider it one of the most dynamic and interesting, managing to evolve every year and offer new and original initiatives. Appreciating the work done by patron Fabrizio Formichetti, we can only affirm that the Scopigno Cup-Intesa Sanpaolo partnership will last a long time.”

THE TOURNAMENT

Regarding the sporting aspects, the 12 participating teams will be as follows: Lazio, Midtjylland, Roma (group 1), Atalanta, Fiorentina, Rieti (group 2), Avellino, Benevento, Napoli (group 3), Juventus, Ternana, Vegalta (group 4).

The preliminary matches – three for each group – will be played at the Manlio Scopigno stadium, the Rietello Sports Center, the Poggio Bustone municipal stadium, the Tilesi stadium in Amatrice, and the Casola stadium in Naples, where the three Campania teams from Group 3 will face off.

The 33rd edition will kick off with the highly anticipated Rome derby between Lazio and Roma, who will face off on August 19th at 3:30 PM in front of the RaiSport cameras, in a remake of last year’s edition.

On August 22nd, the final day, the two semifinals will take place in the morning (one at the stadium, the other at the Rietello Sports Center), while in the afternoon Poggio Bustone will host the Fair Play final, while the Cittareale synthetic pitch will host the 4th Women’s Under-17 Scopigno Cup. At 6:00 pm, the men’s final will award the coveted trophy (live on RaiDue), followed by the traditional awards ceremony.

THE AWARDS

After the speeches, President Fabrizio Formicbetti officially announced the “Manlio Scopigno” and “Felice Pulici” awards, which will be presented on October 20th at the Stadio Olimpico, in the CONI Hall of Honor.

These are the “Manlio Scopigno” awards:

BEST SERIE A COACH: Antonio Conte (Napoli);

BEST SERIE B COACH: Filippo Inzaghi (Pisa);

BEST ITALIAN COACH ABROAD: Enzo Maresca (Chelsea);

BEST WOMEN’S FOOTBALL COACH, SERIE A: Massimiliano Canzi (Juventus);

MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Marco Di Vaio (Bologna) and Giampiero Ausilio (Inter)

BEST SERIE A PLAYER: Mateo Retegui (Atalanta) and Scott McTominay (Napoli);

BEST SERIE B PLAYER: Francesco Pio Esposito (La Spezia);

BEST SERIE A FEMALE PLAYER: Alysia Lehamann (Juventus);

BEST YOUTH SECTOR MANAGER: Roberto Samaden (Atalanta) and Alberto De Rossi (Roma);

BEST YOUTH SECTOR COACH: Samir Handanovic (Inter);

These are the ‘Felice Pulici’ awards: