The official ceremony in which the bust of Cesare Bortolotti was unveiled took place at the Centro Bortolotti in Zingonia. Following careful restoration work, the bust was repositioned inside the sports centre, at the entrance of the Favini Academy.
Present for the Bortolotti family were Cesare’s son, Nicola, and his brother Umberto, together with managers and players from Atalanta’s past and present, the mayors of Ciserano and Verdellino Caterina Vitali and Silvano Zanoli, fans and enthusiasts who wished to pay tribute to the man who wrote a significant and unforgettable chapter in the club’s history. Doing the honours was President Antonio Percassi with CEO Luca Percassi, the management, coach Gasperini, employees and collaborators of the Atalanta family.
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Cesare Bortolotti’s bust unveiled
“I think this is the ideal place to relocate it – emphasised President Antonio Percassi -, because it is visible both from the grandstand and from the pitch in this spot. It deserved this after all this time, it is very important to us. By the way, I was 17 years old and a half when I made my senior debut under the stewardship of Achille Bortolotti”.
“First of all, I would like to thank Atalanta – said Umberto Bortolotti -, primarily President Percassi, his son Luca, and all the Atalanta staff who have worked so hard to organise this event. It is a great pleasure for us to see that Cesare is still here in Zingonia, where he lived and worked. For us, it is a happy moment, and we are grateful to all those present, it was nice to see so many well-known faces that have been part of Atalanta’s history. I hope that Cesare represents here a symbol of perseverance and rebirth for all those who come: he started out as president when the team had been relegated, but from there he started again, taking up this challenge with great determination and achieving the results that we all know. I hope he can be taken as an example: there can be defeats, but what counts is knowing how to recover and move forward. My wish is that all those who pass through here can draw a source of inspiration from Cesare”.
