On the eve of the eagerly-awaited England-Italy Six Nations match scheduled to take place at Twickenham on 9 March, the Italian Embassy in London hosted the event 'Italian Rugby Day - The Passion of Rugby, the Taste of Italy' organised in collaboration with ICE Agenzia, the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), Veronafiere - Vinitaly and the Museum of Rugby in Artena. A sports diplomacy event aimed at celebrating the values of inclusion, respect and sports discipline, and enhancing Made in Italy and the Italian food and wine sector. The event is also part of the campaign in support of the candidature of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO intangible heritage. "As underlined by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International, Antonio Tajani, sports diplomacy is a fundamental foreign policy tool for Italy, capable of contributing to the economic growth and internationalisation of Italian companies,' said Ambassador Inigo Lambertini, who opened the evening with institutional greetings.
FIR president Andrea Duodo and Mauro Bergamasco, former rugby player and star of the Italian national team, also spoke at the event. "Sport is a very powerful tool to unite countries and cultures and a great driver for the promotion and enhancement of a country," said Duodo. He went on to thank the ambassador for the welcome 'at our London diplomatic headquarters, a place of the highest prestige within which we are proud to continue along the path of enhancing the excellence that our country knows how to express in every productive sphere, teaming up also on this occasion with the Ministry for Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry and with ICE. An exhibition of historical memorabilia from the Rugby Museum 'Fango e Sudore' in Artena (Rome) was set up in the embassy for the occasion, with a path to discover the tradition of this sport and, in particular, of Italian rugby.
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