title: Italian Athletics Federation
text: # Italian Athletics Federation
  
  The Italian Athletics Federation (Italian: Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera, FIDAL), is the governing body for athletics in Italy since 1906.
  
  The Italian Federation, founded on 21 October 1906, on initiative of La Gazzetta dello Sport, as Federazione Podistica Italiana (FPI), has been recognised by International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), now World Athletics, since its Berlin Congress in 1913.
  
  ## History
  
  FIDAL assumed its current name in 1926, previously it was as described in the following table.
  
  | Date | Initials | Full name | English translation |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 4 August 1897 | UPT | Unione Podistica Torinese | Turinese Running Union |
  | 1 April 1899 | UPI | Unione Podistica Italiana, then Federazione Podistica Italiana on 21 October 1906 | Italian Running Union |
  | 8 October 1909 | FISA | Federazione Italiana Sports Atletici | Italian Athletic Sports Federation |
  | 12 December 1926 | FIDAL | Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera | Italian Athletics Federation |
  
  ## Presidents
  
  | Election | Assembly | President |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1926 - 1927 | | Alberto Buriani |
  | 1927 - 1929 | | Leandro Arpinati |
  | 1929 - 1930 | | Augusto Turati |
  | 1930 - 1943 | | Luigi Ridolfi |
  | 1943 | | Gaetano Simoni |
  | 1944 | | Gaetano Simoni |
  | 1944 | | Virgilio Tommasi |
  | 1945 | | Angelo Vigani |
  | 18.2.1946 | Assembly of Florence | Bruno Zauli |
  | 10.3.1957 | Assembly of Milan | Luigi Ridolfi |
  | 31.5.1958 | Vice president | Gaetano Simoni |
  | 22.2.1959 | Assembly of Trento | Gaetano Simoni |
  | 5.3.1961 | Assembly of Ischia | Giosuè Poli |
  | 8.4.1969 | Vice president | Vittorio Brunori |
  | 7.12.1969 | Assembly of Rome | Primo Nebiolo |
  | 8.2.1989 | Vice president | Adriano Rossi |
  | 23.4.1989 | Assembly of Florence | Gianni Gola |
  | 29.11.1992 | Assembly of Isernia | Gianni Gola |
  | 20.11.1994 | Assembly of Rome | Gianni Gola |
  | 17.11.1996 | Assembly of Rimini | Gianni Gola |
  | 8.12.1998 | Assembly of Ferrara | Gianni Gola |
  | 28.1.2001 | Assembly of Chianciano Terme | Gianni Gola |
  | 27.11.2004 | Assembly of Chianciano Terme | Franco Arese |
  | 23.11.2008 | Assembly of Turin | Franco Arese |
  | 2.12.2012 | Assembly of Milan | Alfio Giomi |
  | 31.1.2021 | Assembly of Rome | Stefano Mei |
  
  ## Technical Directors
  
  Since 1920 the technical directors of the Italian national team have been the following.
  
  | Period | Men | Women | Only |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1920 | Platt Adams | | |
  | 1921-1923 | | Matilde Candiani | |
  | 1924 | Emilio Lunghi | Anita Podestà Vivarelli | |
  | 1925-1926 | Massimo Cartasegna | | |
  | 1927-1928 | Jeno Gaspar | | |
  | 1932 | Adolfo Contoli | | |
  | 1929-1935 | | Marina Zanetti | |
  | 1933-1934 | Ove Andersen Martti Jarvinen Paavo Karikko Veikko Renko | | |
  | 1935-1939 | | | Boyd Comstock |
  | 1946-1947 | | Lidia Bongiovanni | |
  | 1946-1961 | Giorgio Oberweger | | |
  | 1962-1963 | Lauro Bononcini | Augusto Lorenzoni | |
  | 1964-1968 | | | Giorgio Oberweger |
  | 1969 | Sandro Calvesi | Marcello Pagani | |
  | 1970 | | | Marcello Pagani |
  | 1971-1974 | | | Bruno Cacchi |
  | 1975-1986 | Enzo Rossi | Sandro Giovannelli | |
  | 1987-1988 | Enzo Rossi | Elio Locatelli | |
  | 1989-1994 | | | Elio Locatelli |
  | 1995-2000 | Giampaolo Lenzi | Dino Ponchio | |
  | 2001-2004 | Roberto Frinolli | Augusto D'Agostino | |
  | 2005-2007 | | | Nicola Silvaggi |
  | 2008-2012 | | | Franceco Uguagliati |
  | 2013-2016 | | | Massimo Magnani |
  | 2017-2018 | | | Elio Locatelli |
  | 2019–present | | | Antonio La Torre |
  