RCS Sport replaces Acquarone with Olympic organizer Bellino
RCS Sport has a new general manager in the wake of a financial scandal
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The Giro d’Italia has a new boss, and in Paolo Bellino, RCS Sport is putting its cycling franchise in the hands of an experienced Olympic sports organizer.
Bellino will take the helm of the troubled management group on Jan. 13, following a major reshaping at RCS Sport’s executive level in the wake of an internal audit focused around a reported 13 million euro in missing funds. The 43-year-old Italian previously served as chief operating officer for the Turin Winter Olympic organizing committee and leaves his current position as general secretary of the Italian Track and Field Federation to join RCS Sport, which organizes a suite of cycling events including the Giro, Milano-Sanremo, and the new Dubai Tour, as well as the Milan Marathon.
RCS MediaGroup, owner of the sports division, dismissed previous manager and Giro race director Michele Acquarone earlier this month. Chairman Flavio Biondi, CEO Giacomo Catano, and media relations director Matteo Pastore also lost their jobs in the fall-out from the scandal.
RCS has not disclosed the findings of an independent audit, and Acquarone has vehemently denied any involvement with the lost money.
Bellino joins new RCS Sport chairman Raimondo Zanaboni and CEO Riccardo Taranto at the helm of the organization.