There are 12 days from today, August 9, until the inauguration at the Taranto stadium of the twentieth edition of the Mediterranean Games, an international sporting event in which about 4,000 athletes from 26 countries in the Mediterranean area will participate, 500 of whom are from Italy. And 12 days before the start, the organizational machine is running at high speed.
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Olympic Model
The Games are modeled on the Olympics, featuring the same sports disciplines, except that in this case participation is limited to three continents. At the inauguration on the evening of the 21st at the Taranto stadium, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will be present. The previous edition of the Games was held in Oran, Algeria. The awarding of the Games to Taranto took place in 2019 by the international Games committee; however, only from summer 2023, with the appointment of a commissioner by the Government (Massimo Ferrarese), did the organizational machine start moving, first addressing the enormous delays accumulated from late August 2019 to June 2023. These delays were overcome through an extraordinary effort by the commissioner’s structure, the contracting companies, and the workers, an effort also recognized and appreciated by the Ministers of Sport, Andrea Abodi, and of European Affairs, Cohesion and Sport, Tommaso Foti, and the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Raffaele Fitto, during their recent visits to Taranto, including inspections of the facilities. Before Foti, it was Fitto, as minister, who took care of the Games.
Taranto almost lost them
It was not easy to climb back up. In December 2024, during a meeting of the international committee in Tirana, due to delays on the schedule, Taranto was at serious risk of having the Games canceled. An alternative location was already in place, Naples, where the facilities from the Universiade a few years ago would have been used. In recent months, other complications arose from the high number of rainy days in winter and the scorching heat of this summer. Two climatic factors that significantly affected the operation of the construction sites, forcing them to stop or slow down activity.
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No cost overruns
The two master plans by Commissioner Ferrarese that allowed the start of designs, tenders, awarding of works, and opening of construction sites were approved by the Government and registered by the Court of Auditors between early 2024 and August 2024. The operational start can therefore be placed in that period. Forty-one sports facilities, both built and renovated, are located between Taranto and its province, Brindisi and its province, Lecce, and the province of Bari. Among the most significant works is the complete, total renovation of the Iacovone stadium in Taranto, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games – the inaugural one has been sold out for days – costing more than 60 million. Also worth mentioning is the construction in Taranto of both the indoor and outdoor athletics facility PalaRicciardi – built after the demolition of the old PalaRicciardi – and the swimming stadium with two Olympic pools of 50 meters each, one covered and the other open-air. For the work on the sports facilities, 275 million euros were spent, approved by the Government, and there were no budget overruns. No additional funds were necessary for the Games. However, about eighty million euros were spent on organization by the local organizing committee of the Games, also financed by the Government: Ministry of Sport. Currently, Ministers Abodi and Foti are those managing the event dossier for the Government, whose media coverage in Italy is entrusted to Rai. Taranto is the central city, but events will also be held in the province of Taranto, Brindisi and its province, the province of Bari, and Lecce, where the stadium has been redeveloped.
Sports facilities completed
The facilities are essentially finished. Workers and technicians are currently taking care of finishing touches and final arrangements. And precisely because it is the final phase, the work is very intense. Right after Ferragosto, two ships chartered by the committee to host the 400 athletes will arrive in Taranto. These are a Maltese cruise ship and a higher-category ferry from an Estonian company. The two units will dock at the quays of the Naval Base of the Navy in the Mar Grande of Taranto.
