They broke their silence to explain their pain over the death of the very young volleyball player, Julia Ituma, who would have turned 19 in October, who fell from the sixth floor of a Turkish hotel after an away game.
They are her teammates, from Igor Volley Novara, and they cannot understand what happened: "
We would have liked so much for Julia to share her pain with us
, because in life as in sport, any obstacle becomes easier to overcome if you face together, as a team. Nothing has ever even hinted that something like this could happen, otherwise - they add - we would have intervened".
And they close with an appeal: "
We ask you for support and support, we ask you to stay close to us
".
The pain continues in the words of Sister Giovanna Saporiti
, founder and president of the Novara society: "Today we all feel powerless and defeated, for not having been able to intercept Julia's discomfort and for not having had the opportunity to intervene in time," she says.
"Being fragile or encountering difficulties in life is normal, but you must always have hope and find a way to overcome adversity with the help of other people" continues the patron
Fabio Leonardi
.
For now, however ,
sport stops
, starting with team training.
In the meantime, Federvolley has decided to postpone the match scheduled for Sunday to 19 April, match 1 of the quarter-finals of the Novara championship playoffs in Chieri, in the Turin area.
For the other fields there will be a minute of silence.
The same Region has asked to observe before the start of all the sporting events scheduled in Piedmont.
To remember Julia, and "her big eyes", the ones who "always measured you to understand if you were saying bullshit or something she believed in" there are also sports managers from her past, such as Matteo Azzini, her former assistant coach of the
national
team Italian Under 20 at the time of the 2021 World Cup, won by the Azzurri.
"That year she was decisive - she says - in the final her contribution was very important. She was very determined, she had clear in mind where she wanted to arrive: a very beautiful athlete to train. She had a very decisive, very direct character, he never had half measures or half words, if he had to tell you something he would tell you - he adds - A sunny person in some moments, who gave his soul ".
His opponents also speak of his talent.
"He was a promise of volleyball, he would certainly have had a brilliant career", highlights
Filippo Vergnano
, president of Reale Mutua Fenera Chieri.
"He was certainly one of the promises of the Italian volleyball world", confirms Massimo Galli, the sporting director of Chieri, where Stella Nervini plays, Ituma's former partner in Club Italia and Under 20, who yesterday wrote a moving letter to his friend disappearance.
Another ex of Club Italia is the Trieste volleyball player Alice Trampus, who remembers Julia thus: "She was a dear friend of mine, she was a good person, ready to listen, silent, but always present in times of need. She is there, and for there will always be a part of her in my heart," concludes Alice.
Julia Ituma, the prowess on the field of the volleyball player found dead in Türkiye
Meanwhile, an autopsy
was performed at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Istanbul
on the body of Julia Ituma, the 18-year-old Italian volleyball player from Novara who died yesterday after falling from the window of her hotel room, where she was in retreat with her team .
ANSA learns it.
For the results of the exams, which will also have to be translated into Italian, it will take a few days.
Elizabeth Ituma,
Julia's mother, is returning to Italy
after arriving in Istanbul last night.
Family and club await the
return of the body
, which according to the indications of the local authorities should take place shortly, to define the funeral
ANSA Agency
Ituma, from Bovisasca to volleyball, the sad story of 'Titu' - Sport
From a small oratory in Bovisasca to the Champions League with Novara, through the national youth teams with which he had won the European Under19 gold in 2022 as mvp.
(HANDLE)
The Novara volleyball fans, shocked and in press blackout
They say they are shocked by the death of Julia Ituma, to the point that, at least until the next match against Chieri, they have decided to shut down the press.
I'm
the official fan base
of Igor Gorgonzola, the Novara volleyball team of which the volleyball player who died in Istanbul was a member.
"The Baluardo Novara - they write on social media as fans - to express their closeness to Julia's family, to the Igor Volley club and to all those who knew our Titu, declares a press blackout until the next match".
Theirs is a faith, as stated in their motto 'Always everywhere' which led them to follow the athletes they call 'igorine' also in Istanbul, where one of the twenty loyalists was present, complete with a banner with the words 'Novara' , which however the Turkish security officers prevented from exposing.
The away fan himself learned of the player's death only the next morning, from the media.
Still baffled
in the next few hours they will meet "to decide all together how to remember Julia".
The social media post contains a photo of the girl and is listed in mourning.