Ivan Providence Martini is a born football talent, a boy with only one flaw: an unconfessed goal scored by hand. Father Claudio hadn't forgiven him for that lie, but after the lesson he'd received from the priest, Ivan had sworn to loyalty and sincerity forever, in football and in life.

He's a foundling. An Irish captain handed him over to the priest in Livorno, saying he'd been born aboard his ship. He'd named him Ivan, after the tornado during which he was born, Providence after the ship, and Martini after the vermouth his mother adored. He grew up with the Piarists. At school he's a complete failure; the girls laugh at his protruding ears; his only friend is a leather ball he calls Brother Tango and with which he's never separated. 

The handball incident occurred in 1994, but Ivan stands out above all others. Those ears, those feet, and that talent are noticeable. Signed, he plays for Juventus. His life will be studded with deep love stories and he could play a leading role in very successful footballing realities. 

Father Claudio welcomed Ivan Providence Martini like a son, and the greatest lesson a father can teach his son is to never compromise and never lie. He is the one who teaches the true values ​​that football and the world seem to be increasingly forgetting.

Fair Play is the primo romanzo written by Claudio Pallottini.
He was born in Rome in 1970 and graduated as an actor at the age of twenty-three. He performed in major national companies, but later chose to dedicate himself to playwriting and drama.
This book tells the story of Ivan Providence Martini, a boy born aboard a ship to a mysterious mother who died during childbirth. After years of sacrifice, he becomes a skilled footballer who, over the years, plays for Livorno, Juventus, and AC Milan, before finally donning the jersey of Real Madrid and the Italian national team.
The protagonist manages to maintain his honesty in the ultra-competitive world of football thanks to the teachings of the priest Claudio, who educates him in the game of football and loyalty.
The story is believable, with some characters being fictional, such as the protagonist Ivan and the priest Claudio, and others being famous footballers, managers, and journalists who actually exist. The novel is easy to read and a pleasure to read. This book is for everyone, regardless of whether you're a football fan or not. Highly recommended.

Claudio Pallottini was born in Rome in 1970. He graduated as an actor in 1993 from the “Laboratorio di Esercizi Sceniche di Roma” directed by Gigi Proietti, and has worked in leading national companies. A television author and screenwriter, he has published the manual “Mettere in scena uno spettacolo”, written with Marco Simeoli (Dino Audino Editore, 2006), the book/game Inventafavole (Barbagianni Editore, 2007), Inventafavole 2 (2014), Inventafavolino (2015) and Facciamo che io ero.. (2017). Fair Play (Marsilio Editore, 2018) is his primo romanzo.

Football is at the heart of the novel, telling the story of Ivan Providence Martini, a young footballer who chooses to play fair, moving from the parish pitch to Serie A teams, and finally to the World Cup. From the 1990s to the 2000s, Pallottini chronicles the history of Italian football and its protagonists, as well as the many scandals related to doping, betting, match-fixing, violence, and racism.

It's a beautiful story of loyalty, friendship and love. 

The novel is an easy read, with some very moving pages and others that are very curious in their juxtaposition of real characters with fictional ones. 

It's a book for everyone, even those who don't know or understand football.

The novel reveals a love of football and a nostalgia for the boys' games on the oratory pitches, where everything was based on loyalty and fair play, values ​​that have now almost completely disappeared.

The author, with exquisite skill, illustrates ten years of football, but not only through the results: the book's highlights are the testimonies of important and influential figures in the world of football, the controversies that arose on television broadcasts, and highly interesting behind-the-scenes details. The most striking testimonies are those of Francesco Totti and Luciano Moggi. In addition to real-life characters, the author also creates fictional protagonists, invented by himself. They hold prominent positions and take on striking personalities.

A must-read for both football lovers and non-footballers!

“Fair Play” is a book that doesn’t just talk about football, but goes far beyond. 

From the first page you can tell that this is a novel that takes you away, a novel to immerse yourself in and lose yourself in, difficult to put down even for just a few hours.

We must put aside the skepticism of the football theme, which can not always excite, and simply let ourselves be carried away by a very pleasant read.

It is surprising, at the end of the book, to think about the starting and ending points in terms of settings.

I never imagined that my imagination would end up in Liverpool, among lighthouses by the sea, starting from the city of Livorno. Claudio, the protagonist, thanks to the Piarist Fathers' pitch, becomes an Italian Lionel Messi, albeit unfortunately only on paper. Claudio is a fictional character, an international soccer star who lives only in the suggestions created by the printed typeface of a book and the brilliant prose of a debut author, a Roman actor, Claudio Pallottini, proud of his primo romanzo, "Fair Play," published in March 2018 by Marsilio.

Reading this book was a real journey.

Beyond its fluency, given by a varied and broad writing, elevated but never pompous in terms of content and lexical use, it was a true triumph of emotions and sensations.

It's a read I recommend to everyone, from football fans to lovers of adventure, good values, and exciting travel.

The book we're considering today is titled "Fair Play" by Claudio Pallottini, published in March 2018 by Marsilio. The novel is entirely the product of the author's imagination. All the sentences, speeches, situations, actions, and events are purely fictional, even though it features real football characters. This novel is highly engaging for football fans and non-football fans alike. It tells the story of Claudio, a champion who, however, operates in a world very similar to the real one. A fairytale, free of football clichés but with a few bold truths here and there. This book tells a beautiful story, which begins on a pitch at the Piarist Fathers' oratory and ends in the stadiums where the World Cup is being played. Claudio: Ivan Providence Martini, a born football talent, a humble, courageous, and fearless boy, in football as in life, a boy with only one flaw: an unconfessed goal scored by hand that will serve to make him stand out and be noticed. The “little shit,” as only the Piarist father can call him, or “the Lighthouse,” as they nicknamed him, is a foundling.

An Irish captain handed him over to the priest in January 1982, in Livorno, saying he had been born aboard his ship in the Caribbean. He had named him Ivan, after the tornado during which he was born, Providence after the ship, and Martini after the vermouth his mother adored. He grew up with the Piarists, as well as religious members of the congregations of the Pious Schools. At school he was a complete mess, speaking little or nothing to his classmates; the girls laughed at his protruding ears; his only friend was a battered leather ball, which he called Brother Tango and which he never parted with, not even to use the bathroom, not even to go to bed. Dribbling, touches with the outside, inside, flat, full instep, throws, headers, veronicas, rabones. And how many goals! The handball incident dates back to 1994, a provincial cup match, but Ivan stands out above the rest, his protruding ears eager to come off the bench in the Livorno-Juventus pre-season friendly. Vialli is astonished by the little guy's masterpiece, sent onto the pitch at the last minute against Lippi's champions. In reality, he scored himself, as Burgnich had indicated someone else. Juve won by a landslide, but those ears, those feet, and that talent stood out. Signed by Moggi, he played for Juventus. He then went on to play for AC Milan, Lazio, Roma, Real Madrid, and the national team. He reached the pinnacle of his career with the national team, where he reached the World Cup and the "disaster," about which no spoilers are expected.

This novel is very suitable for young people to understand that with commitment and dedication you can get anywhere.