Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Italian Republic, knighted Lazio stars Ciro Immobile and Francesco Acerbi today.
As reported by Italian media outlet LazioNews24 earlier today, Mattarella honoured the Biancocelesti duo and the rest of the Azzurri squad, coach Roberto Mancini and the staff with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in recognition of their Euro 2020 victory last weekend.
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In addition, all the players and the staff of the Italy team that won the World Cup in 2006 were also awarded the ‘Knight’ title.
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In an official statement released today, the Quirinale confirmed that Mattarella had decided to award the members of the Azzurri the honours.
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, has conferred “motu proprio” honours of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on the players and staff of the national team in recognition of the sporting values and national spirit that animated Italy’s victory at the UEFA Euro 2020 European Football Championship.
In particular, the Head of State conferred the honour of Grand Officer to the President of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina and the Technical Commissioner, Roberto Mancini, of Commander to the Team Manager, Gabriele Oriali and the Head of Delegation, Gianluca Vialli, of Officer to the team captain, Giorgio Chiellini and of Knight to all the starters and reserves of the National team.
Immobile and Acerbi are the first two Lazio players to have ever won a European Championship, with the 31-year-old Italian striker remaining a consistent starter throughout the tournament.
The 33-year-old Acerbi did not feature as much, playing second fiddle to captain Giorgio Chiellini.