Russia – Italy Friendly Football Match Opens SPIEF 2018 Sporting Programme
Friendly football game between Russia and Italy opened the Sporting Programme of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. High-profile politicians and businessmen of the two countries stepped on the field of the Petrovsky stadium in St. Petersburg on 19 May. Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Russia 2018 Organizing Committee, is the captain of the Russian team. Diplomatic mission representatives lead by Umberto Bernardo, Head of the Secretariat at the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Moscow, are the core of the Italian team.
The Russian team won 2:1. “Sport unites. Despite the score, nothing matters but our friendship,” said Italian Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano, who took part in the opening ceremony of the match together with Arkady Dvorkovich.
SPIEF 2018 Sporting Programme includes one more football game. On 23 May in Kolpino a team of Russian politicians, businessmen and artists will play against their colleagues from St. Petersburg in the Heart-to-Heart charity match. The event also includes interactive entertainment venues, national cuisines tasting, and will end with a performance of Russian pop stars. Charitable Heart-to-Heart matches and concerts annually raise multimillion funds for medical support. This charitable contribution will go to St. Petersburg and Kolpino paediatric patients.
