Panel Calendar

Visions of Sport: The EUG 2026 Panels

Hall “C. Pecoraro”
Fisciano, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, Building C1, Ground floor

Medicine, technology, psychology, and rights. All the talks and speeches of the European Universities Games in one big arena for discussion.

NAME	TITLE	DEPARTMENT
Francesca D’ELIA	Monday, July 20, 15:30 – 16:15 Student-Athletes and Dual Career The panel offers an up-to-date reflection on the dual career of student-athletes, examining European models, institutional tools, and the specific challenges of the Italian context. Through a guided conversation with experts in the field and a direct testimony from a student-athlete participating in the European University Games, the session provides a concrete overview of strategies that enable the successful combination of university studies and high-level sport, with particular attention to wellbeing, academic flexibility, and dropout prevention.
Luigi ALDIERI	Monday, July 20, 16:30 – 17:15 Let’s play with DISES but with economic, statistical and legal skills The first presentation explores how data can be used to estimate the chances of winning a tennis match. The presentation compares traditional rating systems with innovative network-based approaches, showing how data-driven methods can improve the prediction of match outcomes. The second one explores the causes and consequences of coaching changes in Italian football during 2010–2019. The presentation combines machine learning techniques with competing risk models, showing how data-driven methods can distinguish between voluntary departures and management-led dismissals. Finally, the last one aims to illustrate the legal dimension of the sporting phenomenon. It focuses on the definition of the concept of ‘sport’, the identification of the relevant regulatory sources, and the analysis of the complex associative network that governs sports at the global, continental, and national levels.
Armando BISOGNO	Monday, July 20, 17:30 – 18:15 Humanistic narratives of sport: the athletic act as history, performance, and thought We can measure the athletic act with ever greater precision, yet numbers never tell us what it means. This panel reclaims sport and the athletic gesture as objects of a humanistic narrative by recovering layers of meaning that data alone cannot capture. Our first paper turns to the sanctuary of Olympi, a major religious center dedicated to Zeus and the birthplace of the Olympic Games; it will show how myth, cult, and athletic competition converged in a single place, and how athletic excellence became an expression of religious devotion and civic prestige. The second paper asks whether the athlete (gymnast, boxer, skater, footballer) can be understood as a kind of actor: against a theatrical tradition that long removed figures akin to the athlete, it recovers the affinities between sport and theatre in the expressive, spectacular use of the body before an audience, from the Olympic games to medieval tournaments and jousts. The third paper traces the athletic metaphor across ancient and medieval philosophy and theology, from the Greek sage as ‘athlete of virtue’ to the Christian athleta Christi. The fourth and last one will look into two examples of material culture related to God’s athletes: the ‘circus-shaped’ basilicas of early Christian Rome and the tombstone of an Irish abbot in early medieval Italy.
Luigi SCHIAVO	Tuesday, July 21, 15:30 – 16:15 Precision health in sports: artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and personalized medicine The panel will explore the role of digital technologies in promoting the health and sporting performance of student-athletes. With contributions from experts in telemedicine, artificial intelligence, physiotherapy and ethical and regulatory issues, the discussion will focus on innovative tools for the remote monitoring of health, the personalisation of nutritional interventions and the optimisation of sporting performance. Particular attention will be paid to the integration of clinical, behavioural and physiological data from wearable devices and digital platforms, highlighting the opportunities, ethical challenges and future prospects of Precision Health as applied to sport.
Enza ROMANO	Tuesday, July 21, 16:30 – 17:15 European Universities Games 2026: the value of sport between health, ethics, and human dignity The panel will explore the crucial intersection between sports law, constitutional guarantees, and fundamental human rights. Adopting an interdisciplinary and legal perspective, the event will examine how sporting activity serves as a vital vehicle for ethical values and social inclusion, as well as a tool for physical and mental well-being. On the occasion of the European Universities Games, scholars and experts will address the global challenges of protecting human dignity, reaffirming sport as a fundamental right and a universal language of respect and solidarity.
Mario TIRINO	Tuesday, July 21, 17:30 – 18:15 Media and sports culture This panel introduces key issues in the sociology of communication and cultural processes by examining how modern sports are configured. Culture and media actively construct sports contemporary narratives, imaginaries, and practices. Media serves as the primary architect, transforming athletic events into transmedia spectacles and shaping how heroism is globally consumed. Simultaneously, culture provides the ideological framework that infuses these mediated spaces with deep social and educational meaning, turning athletic practices into sites of pedagogical value and collective identity. By exploring the educational dimensions of modern sports cultures, the strategic digital self-presentation of elite athletes on social media and the cross-cultural appeal of sports storytelling in spokon genre, this session offers a vital “sociological eye” on how media and culture function as powerful, active makers of modern sports practices, processes and phenomena.
Mauro COZZOLINO	Wednesday, July 22, 15:30 – 16:15 Sports psychology and integrated models for stress management and the promotion of well-being The panel addresses the topic of stress management and well-being promotion in the sports context, through a dialogue between scientific research and field experience. It begins with an analysis of strategies for reducing anxiety and stress in athletes and in those working in well-being contexts, and then explores the role of team cohesion as a determining factor in building a winning team, taking the experience of the Italian women’s national basketball team as an emblematic case. The dialogue between theoretical approaches and direct accounts from professionals who work daily with elite athletes offers an integrated perspective on how psychology can contribute to both individual well-being and collective performance, highlighting the link between psychological balance, management of competitive pressure, and sporting success.
Maria Rosaria ACOCELLA	Wednesday, July 22, 16:30 – 17:15 Nutrition, metabolism, and sports activities: a biological and chemical perspective The panel explores the indissoluble link between healthy nutrition, chemistry, and sports activity, offering a comprehensive journey from scientific foundations to daily practice. The first session delves into physiology and metabolism, analysing how current dietary guidelines support energy demands and performance, focusing on how to fuel athletes inside and out of sport. The second speech translates theory into action, illustrating how to transform these nutritional recommendations into healthy recipes to bring directly to the athlete’s table for everyday well-being. Finally, the third presentation adopts a molecular lens to unveil the essential chemical compounds hidden within healthy dishes. The event thus stands as a unique multidisciplinary journey, showing how biological and chemical science is transformed into health and performance through food.
Marialuisa SAVIANO	Wednesday, July 22, 17:30 – 18:15 One Health in action: sports, well-being, and sustainable lifestyles The One Health paradigm recognizes the interdependence of human health, animal health, and ecosystem health, promoting integrated approaches to sustainability challenges. From this perspective, sport represents a privileged context for understanding how lifestyles, environmental quality, food systems, animal health, and community wellbeing contribute to individual and collective health. Promoted by the DIFARMA Observatory on Sustainability Science, the panel will highlight the distinctive scientific contribution of DIFARMA by connecting sport and sustainable lifestyles with agrifood systems, prevention, nutrition, nutraceuticals, environmental health, and animal health. The session will combine short scientific talks with digital interaction tools, inviting young athletes to identify creative and non-obvious connections between people, animals, ecosystems, food, territories, and wellbeing.
Maria Rosaria COLUCCIELLO	Tuesday, July 28, 14:30 – 15:15 Discrimination in sports and vulnerable categories The panel explores the indissoluble link between healthy nutrition, chemistry, and sports activity, offering a comprehensive journey from scientific foundations to daily practice. The first session delves into physiology and metabolism, analysing how current dietary guidelines support energy demands and performance, focusing on how to fuel athletes inside and out of sport. The second speech translates theory into action, illustrating how to transform these nutritional recommendations into healthy recipes to bring directly to the athlete’s table for everyday well-being. Finally, the third presentation adopts a molecular lens to unveil the essential chemical compounds hidden within healthy dishes. The event thus stands as a unique multidisciplinary journey, showing how biological and chemical science is transformed into health and performance through food.
Consolatina LIGUORI	Tuesday, July 28, 15:30 – 16:15 Where innovation meets peak performance The Department of Industrial Engineering is a multidisciplinary center with applications in many areas of life. Our interventions demonstrate that engineering is a decisive element in sports: through chemical, mechanical, and electronic engineering, it fosters innovation and the future of sports disciplines.
Alessia SAGGESE	Tuesday, July 28, 16:30 – 17:30 Artificial intelligence for sports: from theory to practice A concrete journey into the heart of sports innovation, where Artificial Intelligence stops being just a promise and becomes an everyday tool for athletes, referees, clubs, and professionals. Starting from the fundamentals of AI to practical applications on real cases and field experiences, we will discover how technology is redefining the industry. Guiding us on this path will be an intelligent robot, ready to perform in a practical demonstration.