COVER N.124 - ITALY

Postmark: 52015 PRATOVECCHIO (AR) - C 08.06.22
Posted on the 8th June; received on the20th June 2022
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Thank you Roberto, for another nice cover from Italy, with an interesting stamp.

Soccer, or should I say Calcio, or Futebol as we say... that thing that can turn a perfectly sound and normal human being into its absolute opposite.... matter of passion...? manifestation of our gregarious and tribal nature...? true love for sports....? stairway to heaven for some? black hole for others? 

I like sports. not so much as spending time watching them, but in general terms, I can understand the joy of practicing a sport, of exceeding at it, the benefits it has to one's health, both physical and mental, etc etc.   That's probably why I couldn't care less about what soccer is these days.

It is not the fact that there are indeed some  great players, that are artists of the trade. It's not the fact that people can absolutely like whatever they want and wish too, and it is really no one's business, it's just the fact that it stopped being treated as a sport. Yes, it's an industry, some proudly say, generating millions in revenue, fostering economic development, etc etc.

Thoughts to self:

The minimum monthly wage in Portugal nowadays is 705 Euro. 

A quick look at a 1st league club shop and I see that the official 2022-23 jersey costs 90€. I don't know the cost of tickets for a 1st league match but I suspect they don't come cheap either...

Now the real magic of football, to my eyes, is how to turn a  bloody T-shirt that was probably made in a third world country by an exploited worker and which has a production cost of a handful of euro into an obscure object of desire to be aquired by a receiver of the above mentioned minimum wage, so that he or she can proudly wear them at the match for whose outrageously expensive tickets they have been saving money they don't have. The same  match that begins half an hour late because the police had to escort the fans, like a herd of sheep, into the stadium, while the parading ogres  shout profanity all along the way ...

Human development...? advancement?.... mens sana in corpore sano?

And when the same receiver of the minimum wage opens the newspaper, or turns on the TV, to find that his most admired idol was sold - yes, people can be bought (but didn't slavery,.. buying people, etc etc?? shut up, you know nothing about it...) - to another club in another country (and he is already there on TV saying that he always wanted to be there, that the new club was is club from the start and that he'll do his best...) ? Oh, how he rejoyces, when he learns that the other club payed a bunch of million to buy his idol... and this makes him/her even prouder to wear the beautiful shirt that cost him/her almost 13% of his hard earned wages... 

Amateur sport is, in principle, purer in terms and aspirations, and hopefully it can continue to be so ...

La Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (National Amateur League) associates in a private, non-profit-making manner the sports clubs and associations affiliated to the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio that participate in the national, regional and provincial amateur football championships using exclusively the services of non-professional players.

The LND coordinates, directs and develops the football sporting activities of the sports clubs and associations associated with it and promotes the competitive events it organises or directly organises.

Such is the mission of the National Amateur League established on the 2nd August 1959.

Celebrating its relevance, La poste Italiane issued on 12DEC2019 a single stamp B tariff set with the image of  two players disputing a ball while on the background the inclusive nature of sport is somehow remembered by the image of a girl and a boy, both playing together inside a circle. the Logo of the Lega is also present on the top right corner of the stamp.

Further to the stamp, the envelope also contains a  .05€ sticker label, to bring the postage to the now required 1,15€ tariff for an international letter, up to 20 g.