Gianni Melidoni, the doyen of sports journalism, has died. He was deputy director of the Messaggero

Career

Hired at just 20 years old at “Il Messaggero”, a newspaper to which he remained linked for most of his career, he was head of sport for 23 seasons and also held the position of deputy editor. In the last years of his professional activity he worked on “Il Tempo”.

In his long professional career Melidoni followed eleven Olympics, but football represented the heart of his activity: he covered the scudetto of Tommaso Maestrelli’s Lazio in 1974 and that of Nils Liedholm’s Roma in 1983, becoming a point of reference for the fans of the capital. His controversial battles against the Northern clubs are famous and, above all, the one against the technical commissioner Enzo Bearzot for the failure to call up Roberto Pruzzo to the 1982 World Cup.

He was also one of the television protagonists of the success of Aldo Biscardi’s Trial, where he brought his polemical verve and passionate defense of the Roman teams, helping to make the program a central event in the Italian football debate.

Nicknamed “the prince of sports journalists” for his brilliant style and strong personality, Melidoni began writing at a very young age: he wrote his first article at 14. He wrote by hand, then dictated the pieces, and has always claimed an idea of ​​journalism based on independent judgment and competence.

Deeply attached to family, faith and swimming, which he practiced daily until late in life, he leaves behind his wife Mariolina, six children (Antonio, Rita, Elisabetta, Laura, Elena and Giorgio) and numerous grandchildren. In one of his last interviews he said he wanted to be remembered simply “as a good person”. (by Paolo Martini)