America's Cup: Italian PM welcomes America's Cup to Rome
by America's Cup Media 27 May 09:24 NZST
27 May 2025
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with the America's Cup at the Presentation Ceremony in Rome - May 26, 2025 © Ian Roman / America's Cup
The magnificent setting of the Casino del Bel Respiro, commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1644, in the grounds of Villa Pamphilj, was the outstanding and historic setting for the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, on behalf of the President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, to formally present the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup.
With the dome of St Peter’s Basilica, the centrepiece of the Vatican, as a backdrop, Gaetano Manfredi, the Mayor of Naples gave a warm welcome to the audience that included a significant number of national and international journalists across broadcast, print and multi-media, saying: “On behalf of the city, today is truly a special day, because New Zealand's choice to defend the America's Cup in Naples represents a great privilege and opportunity for our city. I am very grateful to the team that chose Naples. I am very thankful to the government, President Meloni, and all the Ministers of Sport and Health with whom we have worked to build this over the past months.”
Mayor Manfredi continued: “The relationship between Naples and the sea is historic. Naples is one of the great seaside cities of the Mediterranean. This year is 2,500 years since the city was founded by the Greeks who arrived by sea and then the city has always had a great relationship with sailing sports.”
“The spirit with which we are taking up this opportunity, together with the government, is the spirit of being able to face this great challenge...a challenge that represents Naples.” Speaking about the area designated for re-development, Bagnoli, the Mayor was clearly excited by the opportunity saying: “We are transforming Bagnoli into a beautiful place – building Naples’s tomorrow.”
Grant Dalton, joint CEO of Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand and America’s Cup Events, echoed the words of the Mayor, saying: “Naples is passion, Naples is history...and it is our honour to bring the America’s Cup to Naples. Thank you for your vision and for the opportunity to bring the Cup to Italy.” He further highlighted the benefits saying: “The America’s Cup, as we’ve seen in recent events, becomes a catalyst for re-development,” before also highlighting the passionate support for the America’s Cup in Italy saying: “25% of media at the last America’s Cup was consumed in Italy.” Dalton went on to praise and name the twelve America’s Cup challenges that have come from Italy, starting with the famous Azzurra campaign in 1983 and running through to the last event in 2024.
Giorgia Meloni, officially the ‘President of the Council of Ministers’ then took to the lectern set atop the azure blue colour of both Naples and the event to deliver an outstanding speech, saying: “I’m honoured to welcome today to Rome the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, as well as the America's Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup trophies, global symbols of sporting passion and excellence of innovation...Today we celebrate the arrival in Italy for the first time in the history of the America's Cup, that is, the oldest, most famous, most prestigious sailing trophy in the world, a global event that involves millions of enthusiasts all over the world and that represents a unique, extraordinary synthesis between tradition and the future between cutting-edge engineering and competitive spirit.”
Prime Minister Meloni set out a bold vision for the regeneration planned around the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup saying: “I am sure that this event will contribute to strengthening a leading role of the south that in recent years has been able to rediscover its dynamism and its pride...a south that is no longer at the bottom of the class but that is becoming the driving force of Italian development – dynamic, ambitious, and attractive to investment.
“It is an opportunity that we want to leave a long-term, deep and lasting mark on our nation and therefore we obviously have many initiatives in mind...We want to bring sailing into schools, we want to integrate it with the teaching of scientific and technological disciplines, therefore science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and also combine scientific training and sporting experience.”
Prime Minister Meloni concluded with a smile by confirming her undoubted support for the Italian team, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, but also added: “What we are welcoming today is a challenge that is at the same time sporting, educational, economic, and social and we will welcome it as Italians, we will welcome it with pride, we will welcome it with determination, we will welcome it with team spirit because it was the team spirit that allowed us to win this bid and it is exactly with the same team spirit that we will make this occasion a success – an unforgettable experience.”
After the formalities, the Prime Minister was presented with a scale model of ‘Taihoro’ – the winning boat of Emirates Team New Zealand in 2024.