He had been away from home for a couple of days, found lifeless: this is the sad fate of Gianni Zappi, 76, a well-known face of Italian basketball from Imola. He had left home and there was no news of him: his family had already reported his disappearance. His car was recovered from a cliff along the Gavia Pass, in the territory of Ponte di Legno, which fell for several meters.
The alarm was raised around 9 on Wednesday. On the spot – in addition to the 118 health workers, who arrived with the ambulance taken off from Sondrio – also the Carabinieri of Ponte di Legno, the Guardia di Finanza of Edolo, personnel of the Alpine Rescue intervened. But for the 76-year-old there was already nothing more to do.
A long career
Born in 1946 and originally from Imola, he was a basketball player, coach and manager. He had worn the shirts of the Virtus Imola, Silvio Pellico and Andrea Costa teams, also in Imola (of which he was also founder, coach and technical director): as a coach he was called to Forlì and Reggio Emilia, but also to Cagliari, Florence and Osimo, province of Ancona. He was also the coach of the women’s basketball team in Ancona. He was also president of Usap, the union of basketball coaches.
The messages of condolence
Many messages of condolence. “Andrea Costa Imola – reads a note – expresses its heartfelt condolences for the tragic death of Gianni Zappi. The red and white management joins the pain of his wife Alide, his son Mauro and his whole family. a clear sky that hit our entire city “. Thus the mayor of Imola, Marco Panieri: “I learned the news with pain. Gianni Zappi was a symbol for the basketball of our city, both with Virtus and with Andrea Costa, of which he was founder, coach and manager . With him goes an important part of the history of sport, in Imola and beyond “.
