Like a bridge over troubled adriatic water: The complex relationship between Italian and Yugoslavian sporting diplomacy (1945-1954)

The fall of the Fascist regime and the creation of the FPRY did not end the pre-existing ethnic strains between the Slovenian-Croatian and Italian populations, nor did it temper the geopolitical ambitions of Yugoslavia and Italy over the Adriatic coast. Furthermore, the political choices of Belgrade and Rome caused, especially up to 1948, growing differences from an ideological standpoint and influenced the sporting field. The aim of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the sporting-diplomatic relationship between Italy and Yugoslavia, paying special attention to the ‘Trieste case’. Unsurprisingly, before 1948, there were no bilateral sporting exchanges; however, the two countries were particularly committed to demonstrate, including in the sporting field, that Trieste belonged to them. Belgrade could take advantage of the presence of a strong communist Italian minority, who created a sport association for the Free Territory of Trieste whose clubs played in the Yugoslavian championships. In a similar way, the Italian Olympic Committee constantly used sport to affirm the ‘Italianness’ of Trieste. After the Tito-Stalin split, the ‘sporting fight’ to ‘occupy’ Trieste lost intensity as Belgrade began to show more interest in reopening the (sporting) relationships with the West. By looking at the evolution of the bilateral relations between Italy and Yugoslavia, it will be argued that the timing of this sporting rapprochement was strongly connected with the political diplomacy between Belgrade and Rome.