Mauro Balata

PROFESSION: Cassation lawyer of the Court of Rome, former interregional federal prosecutor of the FIGC. Owner of a study started in Rome, he worked for a long time for the top management of the Football Federation as a member of the Federal Prosecutor's Office. He was elected President of the Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie B on 23 November 2017, after having held the role of Commissioner for two months, during which he led the association to the unanimous approval of the new Statute. Among the results achieved at the helm of the association is the historical reduction of the format to twenty teams, no longer in force in Serie B since the 2002/03 football season. He is also credited with introducing VAR, making the LNPB the first second division in the world to adopt the technology. On 7 January 2021 he was re-elected and two months later the Federal President Gabriele Gravina appointed him Head of delegation of the Under 21 national team. In the non-football field, he then chaired the Prosecutors Commission of the Italian Basketball Federation from 2004 to 2008. TEACHING: He taught for several years at the forensic school of Rome and was a member of the Scientific Committee of the national and international Arbitration Chamber of the Rome Bar Association. He is a member of the examination commission of the constitutional law chair of the University of Siena, for which he is also a lecturer in the advanced training course for operators of sports clubs. He is a member of the Sports Law Commission of the National Forensic Council. SOCIAL COMMITMENT: He is the creator of projects concerning the youngest and those who suffer as "B come Bambini", aimed at supporting the reception of family members of children being treated in some of the most important Italian pediatric hospitals and which involves the Bambino Gesù Foundation of Rome, the Gaslini Onlus Association of Genoa and the Meyer Foundation of Florence. It has contributed, through a huge fundraiser, to support the cities of Genoa and Cosenza, respectively affected by the collapse of the Morandi bridge and by a serious flood in the Pollino area, for the reconstruction and support of the families involved. She has personally followed fundraising aimed at populations affected by environmental disasters, such as the communities of Pollino and Santu Lussurgiu (OR). He gave life to the social responsibility initiative called "Be For Peace" which provides for the collection of food and basic necessities to be sent to the populations affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In August 2022 he authored a historic partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an international financial institution, as well as a specialized agency of the UN, in order to create rural economies open to all, sustainable and free from hunger and poverty . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Since 1990, he has closely followed all the most important events that have polluted the world of football, being awarded in 2012 with the bronze Coni Star of Merit, in 2014 with the honor of Cavaliere al Merito della Repubblica and finally in 2016 with the Silver Coni Star of Merit. In 2018 he received the Star of Social Merit, directly from the hands of the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Cafiero De Raho, "for having contributed to instilling principles of legality, transparency, sustainability and sharing in the professional football system". He also collected the national "Sportilia" Memorial C. Viola award for "having known how to combine the values of sport ethics with rigor, honesty and wisdom" and, moreover, the "Maestrelli" award for fair play and correctness. In July 2019 he received the international Fair Play Menarini award in Castiglion Fiorentino. In September 2021 he was awarded the "Pulcino d'argento", a prize reserved for those who have distinguished themselves in the dissemination of football and in the values of sport. In October 2021 he received the Oreste Granillo award, one of the most important in Italy, for his professionalism and elegance.