The character is not an easy one: passionate, quarrelsome, irascible, but intellectually honest. Hated, challenged, esteemed, in short, someone who by his nature is bound to arouse different opinions and views. For years now, Roberto Faticoni has been the secretary of Siag (Sindacato Italiano Allenatori Guidatori) and everything can be said about him except that he is a lover of horses and his profession. Recently he has also come into the limelight for his controversial resignation from the Horse Racing Council. A surprise move also because someone has often identified him as ‘pro-government’…
“But no, I just consider myself consistent. I recognised the good work done by the institutions, starting with the Minister, passing through the Undersecretary and the Director. They began their journey with a heavy legacy, a hole of more than 40 million that is gradually being reduced, but when I heard in October that the jackpot would fall and that payments would stop in July, I felt the need in my own small way to give a sign of protest, a shake-up, and so I resigned. It’s not a common thing for someone to give up a chair…. The council was a union of intentions, if you tell me it’s red and then you bring me black, it’s no good…’
But then things went differently, no cuts and indeed, something more… The outlook seems different…
“That’s true, but I would like to clarify, I don’t hold it against anyone in particular… I protested against the policy after some things that were announced didn’t happen. I don’t know whether it helped or not. However, now it is different: for the premiums we paid 75 per cent in August, let’s hope that now when the Ucb resumes work there will be a quantum leap in recovery and the measures in the financial bill should allow us to get even further ahead in 2025 not to stop with payments in the summer to be clear. Those eight million announced cuts (one to the prize money and seven to the racecourses) have come back. In the end, the racecourses also gained (or at least did not lose out). Having said that, however, it is right that the classification that was made and inspired the calendar should also be applied to the subsidies.Not to do so would be a kind of political failure.”
In short, are you ‘for or against’?
“Neither: I recognise that a lot of work has been done since the new Directorate General was established. There is dialogue with the categories; the betting reform has been launched. An attempt has been made to remedy the anomaly of the levy on the Preu with the rule on virtuals. Now we are also waiting for the other changes on betting and the new ‘collegato’ in which the project to set up the Agency should be prepared. There was the reduction of VAT on foals, another interesting element. The other day came the news of the appointment of Tamara Papiccio, whom I know well from the Tor di Valle days, to the vice-presidency of the Uet, another fine achievement. In short, it must be said that perhaps a lot more has been done in the last 18 months than in many previous years, but this does not mean that we are not always on the alert, ready to make our voice heard, if necessary, to remedy the other problems that are still outstanding.”
In recent weeks your category has also come into the eye of the storm for some excellent disqualifications…
“There has certainly been increased attention on the doping front just as there is now greater control on the betting front in the name of the transparency that should always and in any case characterise the sector. This is right and we should not be scandalised. However, actual responsibility and culpability have not yet been established, so until proven otherwise, there is a presumption of innocence. Obviously, if there are guilty parties, the sanctions provided for must be applied. Just as it is right in my opinion that for serious facts and coinciding with the close discussion of the various judgments, suspensions are not granted, and this is said by someone who has never asked for one in the past.”
Several racecourses are in trouble….
“Meanwhile I hope, and it seems to me that this is the case, that the situation of Roma Capannelle will be definitively resolved as soon as possible, as well as that of Palermo because it is too important a facility for Sicilian horseracing. I maintain that no racecourse must close. Every closure represents a defeat for the entire sector. However, it is clear that each one must have its own well-defined role and operate at its best. We as an association are always alert to everything, always on the ball. We have taken steps forward from an institutional point of view. Now it is also up to us equestrians not to take steps backwards…’.
