150 millions are the immigrants that today according to UN definitions and estimates of experts, are currently migrating between the different countries of the world. For this reason, this problem is a priority in the political agendas of governments and international institutions, above all in Europe and Italy, where migration flows rather than being an effect, in turn, become the driving force of globalisation processes. Sport, on the other hand, has been one of the most powerful factors of internationalisation when, at the end of the 19th century, the world was still ‘local’. The Anglo-Saxons who went to the remotest areas of the world promulgated, as soldiers, settlers and entrepreneurs their sporting habits.
Yet never before, the two phenomena ignored each other so much as in modern times. Migrant policies adopted by the different governments, hardly ever turn to sport as a means for social integration, despite the fact that it is recognised by everybody as a lingua franca favouring dialogue more than any other and promoting meetings between different people.
This research carried out by Panathlon International, a non-governmental organisation recognised by IOC, whose aim is to promote ethics and fair play in world sport, tries to bridge this gap. Carried out by experts in some of the numerous countries where Panathlon is present, including Italy, without expecting to be exhaustive and systematic, the research provides a first method and some food for our thoughts on policy making not only for social planners, but also for scholars and all those who for different reasons deal with both problems.

Aldo Aledda Member of Panathlon International Scientific-Cultural Commission. Former member of the organising Committee at the State-Regions-CGIE Conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Former professor of Sports History at the Universities of Cagliari and Rome. Author of several publications and books, including 10 books on sport and one on migration. Among his first books are L’importante è vincere. Lo sport in Usa (The Important Thing is the Victory. Sport in the USA) (2000) and Sport. Storia politica e sociale (Sport. Political and Social History) (2002) , finalists at the Bancarella Sport Award and winners of CONI’s Literary Award.

Luigi Fabbris Degree in Statistics and Business at the University of Padua (1973). He achieved his M.Sc. in Statistics at the London School of Economics and Political Science(1977). Former Researcher at the Faculty of Statistics and Associate Professor of Social Statistics from 1985 to 1986, Full Professor of Health Statistics from 1986 to 1995 and Full Professor of Sample Investigations and Public- Opinion Polls from 1995 to the present day. Author of important investigations on these subjects, he currently holds important national posts at University.

Antonio Spallino Chairman of Panathlon International Scientific-Cultural Commission, and P.I. Past President. Fencing Silver Medallist at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games and gold medallist at 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, current Vice President of the International Committee for Fair Play. Lawyer, politician and public administrator, he is a top level organiser of cultural events and not only in the world of sport. Writer and essayist, in particular in sports ethics, Spallino edited the four volumes Sport. Ethics. Cultures (2004) published by Panathlon International.