Two years of suspension from activity for the president and the instructor of the Circolo Nautico Arbatax. One year for the affiliated sports association. These are the decisions of the Federal Court on the case of Anna Laura Pilia, the 10-year-old sailor from Tortolì who lost her life on August 8 of last year in the waters of the port of Arbatax where she was participating in a training session of the Circolo Nautico, a club for which she was a member.
The recipients of the measures are Raffaele Andrea Balzano (known as Lucio), president of the Nautical Club, and Inaki Aitor Gurmindo , an instructor of Argentine origins who, on that dramatic afternoon, was on duty on behalf of the association. The disciplinary proceedings are limited to the sports sphere and such decisions are subject to review in the event that further and distinct facts of importance emerge in ordinary jurisdiction. The Federal Prosecutor's Office will await the conclusion of the investigations conducted by the deputy prosecutor of Lanusei, Giovanna Morra.
The sentence
In parallel with the investigation conducted by the Lanusei Public Prosecutor's Office, the Italian Sailing Federation has initiated disciplinary proceedings on the tragic accident involving the young sailor. Balzano and Gurmindo, who were charged by the federal prosecutor Gianfilippo Traversa with disciplinary misconduct for conduct not in accordance with the principles of sportsmanship , have reached an agreement to negotiate the sentence through their respective lawyers, Maurizio Corda (Circolo nautico and Balzano) and Marco Pistis (Gurmindo).
But the current scenario, with two-year suspensions for members and one year for the Club, could change because the federal prosecutor, before definitively closing his file, is waiting for the outcome of the investigations of the Lanusei deputy who is proceeding for manslaughter. The outcome is also awaited by the heirs of the little girl represented, in various capacities, by the lawyers Mauro Pilia, Marco Pilia and Stefano Orrù. The sentence of the Federal Court was read by the president, Alessandro Ghibellini (alongside Cesare Fumagalli, Simona Crispo with the assistance of Valentina Cristiani) .
The tragedy
According to what emerged in the initial phases, the little sailor from Tortolì did not present any injuries, neither to the head nor to the rest of the body, so it is certain - as demonstrated by the pathologist Michela Laurenza who performed the autopsy - that death was caused by drowning . Anna Laura fell into the water after her optimist, the monohull equipped with a single sail, capsized. The little girl drowned even though she was wearing her regulation life jacket, but evidently she remained entangled in a rope that kept her under the boat with which the athlete herself was familiar thanks to her constant training. An immense tragedy that has shocked the territory.
The initiative
In the weeks following the accident, the Comprehensive Institute number 1 of Tortolì where the little girl, who should have attended the fifth grade this year, was enrolled, had brought the proposal to name the internal library of the elementary schools on via Monsignor Virgilio to the attention of the school board . In recent days, the initiative has entered the concrete phase and the sailor's family has confirmed the donation to modernize the library. The purchase of books is the complementary step.
A list of 600 volumes that can be purchased in memory of the little girl is available at the Libreria del Corso.