The Italian Lega Pallavolo Maschile Serie A has launched a new and important public-oriented initiative – a partnership with the Association of Road Victims' Families (AFVS), supported by Credem, the main sponsor of the men's Serie A championships. The goal is clear and specific: to promote a culture of road safety among Italian society. The league's website reports on the initiative.
The campaign is named "La sicurezza stradale è un gioco di squadra" ("Road safety is a team game") and will use the power of sport as a communication channel – not just through posters and slogans, but through real presence in arenas, clubs, and around matches, with a continuous effect throughout the season.
When rules are not a formality, but a boundary between life and tragedy.
The main idea of the initiative is the parallel between sports and road traffic: in both cases, the outcome depends on discipline, responsibility, and the participation of everyone.
On the road, the "opponents" are not on the other side of the net, but are invisible and insidious – alcohol, drugs, and the phone behind the wheel. And if in volleyball a mistake costs a point, in real life it costs something incomparably more severe.
The initiative proposes a simple but strong model:
"training" is education
"the rules" are the Highway Code
"the team" is the entire society – institutions, families, organizations, and citizens
What the campaign will look like in SuperLega
Activities at various levels will be implemented during the season, including:
interactive initiatives during selected SuperLega matches, with fan participation
audio messages in the arenas to keep the topic constantly "on the field," and not just in the news cycle
60% of Italians see a problem with road safety information
In the communication part, the organizers also rely on the results of a study by Opinion Leader 4 Future – a project for conscious awareness, launched in 2023 within a partnership between Credem and Almed at the Catholic University "Sacro Cuore".
The survey shows that 60% of Italians report a problem with awareness on the topic:
34% believe there is too little information
26% are of the opinion that the topic of road safety is presented too sensationally in the media, instead of providing clear and practical guidelines
The conclusion is obvious: people are not looking for more noise, but for clearer and more consistent messages that can change habits, rather than simply marking a presence on the agenda.
The numbers behind the cause: 3,030 fatalities in Italy in 2024.
ISTAT/ACI data outline the severity of the problem in Italy. The final balance for 2024 reports:
173,364 injury accidents
3,030 fatalities
over 233,000 injured
The three organizations express their desire to support a reversal of the trend and to contribute to the achievement of the European Union's goal: a 50% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries by 2030 (compared to 2019).
And here, the parallel with Bulgaria comes not as a "recommendation," but as a self-evident logic. In recent months, volleyball in our country has done something rare: it stepped out of the sports framework and became a public topic. After the men's silver and the U19 women's gold from world championships, the game now has a resource that few disciplines possess – recognition, trust, and influence over young people.
We usually talk about this influence as a chance to "hook" children and teenagers into sports – and this is important because it's an investment in the nation's health. But road safety is an even sharper line: it's not a matter of fitness, but of survival.
And if Italy is turning the SuperLega halls into a place for discussion about responsibility behind the wheel, Bulgaria also has every reason to use its strongest sports voice at the moment. Not for the sake of a flashy campaign, but because for us, such messages are not a "social bonus". On the road, there is no second chance!
illustration: legdvolley.it
