Candido Cannavò

Candido Cannavò was an Italian journalist. He started his career as a 19-year-old covering sport and other subjects for the daily newspaper La Sicilia. He wrote his first article for the Italian sports paper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, as correspondent from Catania in 1955. Cannavò also worked with RAI, the Italian public television service, and in the 1960s was one of the commentators of “Tutto il calcio, minute per minute“.

After moving to Milano, Cannavò covered both the FIFA Wold Cup and Olympic Games for Gazzetta until March 1981, when he became deputy director of Gino Palumbo, becoming co-editor a year later. In March 1983 he became director of the Rosea (nickname of Gazzetta). He held the post until 2002; nobody had previously been director of this newspaper for so long.

Under Cannavò’s leadership, the newspaper became the most circulated sports daily in Europe, thanks also to an ongoing set of initiatives (like the weekly Sportweek supplement, booklets, and long-distance transmissions to the United States and China). The newspaper was also known for its human, social and economic look at sport. He continued to write for Gazzetta until two days before his sudden death from a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 78.

Cannavò was also very popular through his numerous TV appearances covering the Giro d’Italia (organized by Gazzetta) and Serie A football. He was author of four books: Una vita in rosa (2002), Libertà dietro le sbarre (2004), E li chiamano disabili (2005), Pretacci. Storie di uomini che portano il Vangelo sul marciapiede (2008).