LAUSANNE - March 30, 2021 - June 17, 1970, Azteca stadium, Mexico City: Italy 4 - 3 West Germany, the match of the century, much more than a football match. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the semifinal of the World Cup, the audio produced by Dario Ricci, second place in the AIPS Sport Media Awards 2020 - blends the history of football, the memories of terrorism, the Berlin Wall and migration with the stories of the people who lived that match. 

How did the idea of ​​"Italy-West Germany 4-3: The match of an entire nation" come about? 

The idea was born in a nice way: every day I go down to the bar downstairs to drink coffee. In the days leading up to the anniversary of Italian football history, my friends overwhelmed me with memories. These are stories, I thought, this match was more than a match, if we still tell it 50 years later. 

Tracey Holmes, first-place in the audio category, said just yesterday: “Sometimes the best and most powerful and emotional stories come from people that no one has never heard". 

I confirm! My reportage was really born with a circular story. I start with my 50-year-old friend who tells about that game where his father held him in his arms, trying to get him to sleep, and ends with an 8-year-old boy whose grandfather and dad told about that game. The director, Andrea Roccabella, had the idea on this occasion to alternate moments of the commentary with the stories and these voices: it is a sports reportage in which no champion speaks. 

What do you like most about the radio?

I fell in love with radio at first sight, when I started the Journalism Training Institute in Urbino, the oldest in Italy. I was moved by the silence of the radio, more than by the words. The big secret for me on the radio is not knowing how to speak, but knowing how to listen. We are in an era where we all want to say a lot: stories come to us only if we know how to listen to them. I have a memory in my head - the silence that followed the fall in the slalom at the 2006 Turin Olympics: I remember inserting that silence in a report from Turin, which included the whole career, the emotions, the disappointment. 

What's your tip for younger colleagues? 

Journalism is a question mark. Knowing how to ask the question is knowing how to do journalism. It is important that we journalists are into things, always maintaining the freedom to be able to ask questions. If we can do it, we are journalists. If the question mark is missing at the end of our sentences, we are not doing well. 

You are a veteran of the AIPS Sport Media Awards: what do you like most about this competition? 

The opportunity to compare myself with many colleagues from all over the world and draw inspiration from their works. When I see the other topics, the other works of sports journalists from all over the world, like the article that Marca's colleague won two years ago dedicated to football in the Nazi concentration camps, it's an exciting thing just to talk about it. 

How has the pandemic changed your life? 

It has been and continues to be a very tough year, in which many things have changed. I hope not to get used to it: our mind adapts to everything, but at the same time we must soon return to normal, taking with us the teachings of this experience. The president of AIPS gave an important idea: I am afraid that some restrictions that the pandemic has imposed on us with the athletes, with the news, can survive Covid. I suffered this year personally, but we must all be united in claiming the rights to be able to do quality, truthful and investigative journalism. 

What do you expect from Tokyo 2020? 

I had the honor of representing Radio24 Il Sole 24 Ore in some Olympic editions, from Turin 2006, and the summer ones from Beijing to Rio 2016. A piece of advice I would like to give to young people is not to look back: for us journalists career starts over every day. I may have done some excellent things, but if I'm wrong in the next news radio, I have to take responsibility for it. I hope these games are as close to normal as possible and really give a signal of recovery.

To view all winners of the AIPS Sport Media Awards’ third edition, please click here.