The 18th edition of the pro-am ALS
charity golf event set up by Gianluca Vialli and his former
Juventus and Italy teammate Massimo Mauro, the 'Fondazione
Vialli e Mauro Golf Cup', will take place on May 8, the first
edition without former Samp, Juve and Azzurri star Vialli who
died of cancer at the beginning of January.
The event is aimed at gathering funds for research into ALS,
Amiotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Motor Neurone
Disease of Lou Gehrig's disease, an incurable nerve-wasting
condition that disproportionately hits former soccer players.
At the Barlassina Country Club at Lentate sul Seveso (Monza
Brianza), some of the protagonists of this year's edition will
be former soccer players Michel Platini, Andriy Shevchenko,
Gianfranco Zola, and Attilio Lombardo; and, among the golf pros,
Jorge Campillo, , Matthew Baldwin, Rafa Cabrera Bello, and
Stephen Gallacher.
"For 18 years," said Mauro, "we have dedicated ourselves with
passion and commitment to organizing the Fondazione Vialli e
Mauro Golf Cup, created thanks to a shared idea with our friends
and supporters Peppo e Antonella Canonica.
"When we began in 2004, we wanted to win a match that would be
much better than any other football match, that is helping
obtain a drug for ALS sufferers, who hitherto have not had any
hope, because ALS is an illness that has no cure. We believe in
it today more than ever, that's why we're not going to stop. We
owe it to Luca, ourselves and our supporters."
The funds gathered will be devolved to AriSLA - (Fondazione
Italiana di Ricerca per la Sla), the pre-eminent Italian SLA
research body.
So far the Fondazione Vialli e Mauro has raised more than four
million euros for research into ALS, which in America is known
for the baseball great who died of it at almost 38 in 1941, Lou
Gehrig.
Partners of the event are the companies Celada, ERG and Norqain
Italy.
The Cup returned last May after a two-year absence due to
COVID-19.
Professionals, celebrities and amateurs faced off at the 2023
Ryder Cup venue, the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside
Rome, in the 17th edition of the event.
The competitors included former soccer players including Michel
Platini, Laurent Blanc, Giancarlo Antognoni, Mauro Tassotti,
Borja Valero, Christian Panucci, Simone Pepe, Alain Boghossian,
Attilio Lombardo and Stefan Schwoch.
Also taking part were top golfers including Puglia's Francesco
Laporta, Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello, Scottish pair Stephen
Gallacher and Scott Jamieson, and England's Ross McGowan, winner
of the 2020 Open d'Italia.
In the latest research advance, an Italian study in January last
year said the lack of an enzyme in the body causes the fatal
nerve-wasting disease.
The study by Milan's Mario Negri Institute and Turin's Citta'
della Salute, published in the journal Brain, shows that the
lack of cyclophillin A induces the terminal condition.
Conducted in animal models and on humans, the breakthrough
"could be a first important step towards developing a therapy,"
said the researchers.
"We have to go back to the lab and assess whether this is the
right path to stop the onset and progression of the disease,"
said Mario Negri researcher Valentina Bonetto.
"If it proves to be so, it would be a very important first step
towards developing a therapy for ALS".
ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the
progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary
muscles.
The affected muscles are responsible for chewing food, speaking,
and walking.
Motor neuron loss continues until the ability to eat, speak,
move, and finally the ability to breathe is lost.
ALS eventually causes paralysis and early death, usually from
respiratory failure.
There is no known cure for ALS, and the goal of treatment is to
improve symptoms.
The disease became well known in the United States in the 20th
century when in 1939 it affected Gehrig and later worldwide
following the 1963 diagnosis of cosmologist Stephen Hawking.
The average survival from onset to death is two to four years,
though this can vary, and about 10% survive longer than 10
years.
In Europe, the disease affects about two to three people per
100,000 per year.
It hits professional soccer players on average two times
more than the general population and Serie A players are hit six
times more, a study from Milan's Mario Negri Institute said in
2019.
There have been several high-profile cases in Italy of
right-to-die ALS sufferers committing suicide due to the
hopelessness and physical incapacitation of the condition,
shifting the debate on assisted suicide and boosting
parliamentary moves to legalize it.
The flag-bearer in Italian soccer's campaign to explain the high
rate of Lou Gehrig's Disease among former players, ex-Fiorentina
and AC Milan striker Stefano Borgonovo, died of the incurable
nerve-wasting condition at 49 in June 2013.
"Ciao Stefano, hero", tweeted former Fiorentina teammate
and Italy great Roberto Baggio while ex-Juventus and Italy
forward Alessandro Del Piero called Borgonovo on his Web site "a
great fighter who loved soccer and life".
At the time of Borgonovo's death, other figures were released
saying that the Lou Gehrig death rate among ex-players in Italy
is 12 times that of the general population.
Top anti-doping prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello has been
probing more than 40 deaths for over 20 years.
Doping, other performance enhancers, repetitive head trauma and
pitch fertilizers have been touted as possible causes but
scientists have yet to pin down the origin of the disease.
Former Chelsea boss Vialli, who died on January 6 and whose
tributes were led by Azzurri coach Roberto Mancini, his former
boss and ex-Samp 'goal twin', and former Sky TV pundit Mauro,
teamed up with the aim of helping solve the riddle and achieve
effective treatment.
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