Former Italian international midfielder Damiano Tommasi has been elected mayor of Verona after heading a centre-left coalition to see off the city’s right-wing incumbent.

Tommasi, who collected 25 caps for his country and won the Serie A title with Roma in 2001, beat Federico Sboarina in Sunday’s run-off to claim a surprise victory in the northern Italian city.

The former Italian footballers’ association president won as an independent candidate against Sboarina, who represented the far-right Brothers of Italy party.

Sboarina suffered from divisions among the right-wing parties and he failed to get support from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia.

Tommasi was supported by the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and other leftist groups and will now lead a city with a long tradition of right-wing politics.

His victory stood out on a night in which the centre-left also won in other important towns like Parma and Piacenza.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

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