Atalanta CEO Luca Percassi recently shared his thoughts on the club’s success, the stadium situation in Italy, and the impact of their Europa League victory. Speaking at the Festival dello Sport, Percassi reflected on Atalanta’s remarkable journey over the past few years.
Discussing the “Atalanta model,” Percassi said, “The story of Atalanta over the last 15 years starts with my father. He came to Bergamo, met my mother, and began his entrepreneurial activity. Our family’s history is tied to that of Atalanta. The results in recent years have been very important, extraordinary. We didn’t expect it. Atalanta has its own identity, and many things we do couldn’t be replicated in other clubs. Atalanta has certain characteristics. In 2017 we bought the stadium, and this year we inaugurated it.”
Addressing the stadium issue in Italian football, Percassi commented, “Italy is the most beautiful country in the world: the cities are wonderful and everyone envies them. But then you go to stadiums that don’t properly represent our cities. It’s unacceptable, for example, that the phenomenon of piracy still exists: it doesn’t help football grow.”
Reflecting on Atalanta’s historic Europa League victory, Percassi stated, “Against Leverkusen, we rejoiced for something incredible. Football is meritocratic, and you earn things on the field. Atalanta’s trophy has also been good for Italian football. We had various Italian teams in European finals: Inter, Fiorentina, us… the quality of Italian football is high.”
He emphasized the importance of youth development, adding, “One of the most beautiful things about the night in Dublin was having six youth academy players on the field. Protecting the youth sector is fundamental to safeguarding Italian football. Football is such an important social phenomenon that we all start selecting children at 6/7 years old. The value of football is something we also transmit to the formation of our young players. We get the greatest satisfaction seeing how many players come out of the youth sector properly trained.”
