Renzi ‘withdraws’ from charity match

P(ANSA) – Florence, April 23 – Premier Matteo Renzi put an end to controversy over his planned participation in a charity football match on Wednesday by deciding not to play.BRThe premier and leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (Pd) was hoping to play alongside retired football legends Roberto Baggio, Giancarlo Antognoni and Gabriel Batistuta in the annual televised Partita del Cuore (Game of the Heart) in his native Florence to raise money for the medical charity Emergency. However, news of his possible participation in the May 19 event, sponsored by state broadcaster RAI, met with immediate criticism from political opponents, who suggested he would turn the football match into an election campaign event ahead of European parliamentary elections on May 25.BR”I have decided not to play, but I am President of the Council of Ministers of a country that does not deserve such ridiculous debate,” wrote Renzi on Facebook.BRThe 39-year-old premier then took a swipe at the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) of comedian Beppe Grillo, which was behind the criticism.BR”They are not afraid of me as a footballer but as someone who wants to change Italy,” he wrote. “For the first time the anger and fear of Grillo’s supporters has sullied an event such as the Game of The Heart which has united Italians for years,” Renzi added.BRNGO Emergency’s founder Gino Strada expressed similar sentiments Tuesday. “You’re collecting funds to treat people, and I honestly care little for the rest,” said Strada of the controversy around Renzi’s possible participation. “What interests me is the event”.BRStrada’s group founded 20 years ago has treated more than six million patients in war-torn regions around the world.BR/P
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