By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
According to reports from multiple outlets in Italy, Gianni Petrucci was transported to a hospital to treat injuries after a car accident near Rome. Traveling with him, his wife suffered minor injuries.
Petrucci, 78, was initially considered in serious condition. But he has since stabilized, communicating with doctors at the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital. His life is not in danger. His wife was moved to Tor Vergata Hospital.
Local police are investigating the situation surrounding the car accident.
The longtime president of the Italian Basketball Federation served in his current role between 1992 and 1999 and since 2013. Between the two stints, he was president of the Italian National Olympic Committee.
Among multiple responsibilities for FIP, the men’s senior national team will compete in Puerto Rico for a spot in the 2024 Olympic Games. Drawn in Group B with the hosts and Bahrain, opposite Group A’s Cote d’Ivoire, Lithuania, and Mexico, the top-ranking country will book a ticket to Paris and the Olympic tournament.
With Petrucci as the federation president, the Azzurri made it to the 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021. Berths in the FIBA World Cup extended to the three editions, from 1998 to 2019, and ranked eighth overall in 2023. Ettore Messina, Simone Pianigiani, Romeo Sacchetti, Bogdan Tanjevic, and current selector Gianmarco Pozzecco were head coaches.
Among pioneers and global powers of the sport, Italy’s basketball federation was among the founding members of FIBA alongside Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland.