BARILLA MAIN SPONSOR
OF THE ITALIAN NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM
Two Italian icons come together for the 2015 European
championships
Two Italian icons are joining forces for the first time. Italian tradition, quality and passion are
values shared by Italy's national basketball team and Barilla, who will act as main sponsor
for Italy's men's, women's and junior squads.
The partnership between Barilla and the all-blue basketball team will build up to the key
event of the forthcoming EuroBasket 2015, where the men's National team will be competing
this September in Germany. The initiative is part of a wider project that prompted the world’s
largest pasta company to invest in sport once again. For the first time in its 140-year history,
Barilla will be working alongside a sports Federation and its National teams.
“Barilla is pleased to be supporting a team sport in which fair play is put into practice both by the
players on court and fans on the stands. It’s a sport that has also seen Italian champions leaving
their mark in the American NBA,” said Paolo Barilla, Vice Chairman of the Barilla Group. “On the
one hand we will have the opportunity to support an increasingly popular sport, while on the
other we will also be able to work together on the importance of a healthy diet.”
Starting with its historic sponsorship of football team AS Roma, which won the Italian league in
the 1982-83 season, there are many examples of partnerships between the Barilla Group and the
world of sport. They include skier Alberto Tomba, tennis star Steffi Graf, cyclist Francesco Moser
and motorcyclist Valentino Rossi, alongside the more recent partnerships with Federica
Pellegrini, Ricardo Kakà, Stephan El Shaarawy and Mikaela Shiffrin. For some time now, there
has also been a special relationship between Barilla and Alex Zanardi, Olympic gold medal
winner at the 2012 Paralympics.
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Sport is all about energy, passion and commitment, just like Barilla pasta: positive energy that
sets life alight, feeding passions and turning them into winning feats. For this reason, pasta is not
just a vital food for athletes; it is also an essential source of carbohydrates for all those who need
vitality and taste to keep pursuing their dreams.
Wearefamily is the banner that identifies the Italian national basketball teams: one big family
united under the Italian national shade of blue, and the desire to play sports and represent Italy
worldwide with a healthy approach.
On September 5th, Italy's "Azzurri" (“Blue Team”) will be taking on Turkey in Berlin, for their
first match in the qualifiers for EuroBasket2015.
The Partners
FIP-The Italian Basketball Federation
Established in 1921, its aim is to promote, regulate and develop basketball in Italy by applying Italian
laws and regulations set out by the FIBA (the International Basketball Federation) adopting the
guidelines provided by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), with which it is affiliated. The
National Teams Sector of the FIP organises the activities of the male and female Senior and Junior
National Teams. The FIP organises the men's Serie A championships (through the Basketball League),
Gold, Silver, Serie B and Serie C (through the National Basketball League) and the Serie A1, A2 and A3
championships (through the Women's Basketball League).
The Barilla Group
Established in Parma in 1877 out of a shop that made bread and pasta, Barilla is today among Italy's top
food groups, a world leader in the pasta and pasta sauce businesses in continental Europe, bakery
products in Italy and crispbreads in Scandinavia.
Currently, the Barilla Group owns 30 production sites (14 in Italy and 16 abroad) and exports to more
than 100 countries. Every year, its plants turn out 1,700,000 tons of food products that are eaten
worldwide, under the following brand names: Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Academia Barilla,
Wasa, Harrys (France and Russia), Misko (Greece), Filiz (Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (Mexico).
Barilla Media Relations
Luca Di Leo/Caterina Grossi/Barbara Griguol
0521.262217
[email protected]; [email protected] ; [email protected]
B2P Comunicazione
Antonio Buozzi +39 320 0624418
[email protected]
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