Leotta is the host of the international streaming service DAZN, which has the main rights to Serie A in Italy and is watched by millions of Italians and Europeans every week. Recently, their viewers became better acquainted with a Norwegian, namely national team player Morten Thorsby, who was a guest in Leotta’s own program “Day Off” where you meet Serie A profiles off the field. – It was very funny. We had a really good day and were together for over five hours. We became well known, says Thorsby to news. – Picked plastic together And when the Norwegian 26-year-old has a “Day Off”, it may not be a bomb that it agrees to focus on climate and environment. – I took her to a beach in Genoa, and there we picked plastic together. The Mediterranean is struggling with major plastic problems and plastic pollution, so we had a day together where we got to see the problem up close. We found a lot of plastic when we were there, says Thorsby. FAMOUS FACE: Diletta Leotta is a profiled sports reporter. Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP Leotta is not just anyone in Italy. On Instagram she has 8.2 million followers, Martin Ødegaard has by comparison 3.5 million followers. For a number of years she has been one of the most prominent sports reporters covering Italian top football. Leotta has also shared a photo of Thorsby on her own Instagram account, and the program is said to have been well received by viewers. Diletta Leotta posted this picture of her and Morten Thorsby on Instagram. The post has received close to 150,000 likes. Photo: Screenshot dilettaleotta / Instagram “The commitment to the environment is the rent I pay to live on this fantastic planet”, the Norway player is quoted in the program. He’s glad he lined up for the channel. – It was a good way to shed light on that matter. In Italy this is something they have started to take quite seriously, they see how big the problem is. I got a very good response to that program, it’s fun, says Thorsby to news. Was together for over five hours He says that he got a good tone with the profiled TV reporter. They spent a lot of time together throughout the day of filming. – That was funny! I do not think it was the most familiar environment for her, and I do not think she has done an interview in that type of format before, but I think she liked it very much. At least she was very gentle and nice, says Thorsby. news has addressed an interview request to Leotta through DAZN and her agent company, but at the time of writing has not received a response. CLOSE TO: Diletta Leotta, here with Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso. Photo: Luca Bruno / AP That Thorsby is concerned about the environment and the climate struggle, his Norwegian teammates have also noticed this collection. The 26-year-old is now one of the initiators of something that has been named “Green Bag”. – Green Bag is a solution to give football shoes and football clothes new life. 99 percent of all football shoes I guess go to a landfill or are impossible to recycle, so now we have joined forces with a couple of partners and are trying to get a solution to this problem, says Thorsby. He has this national team gathering asked the other players to bring excess football clothes and football shoes from the clubs they play in. – I have asked them to hand this in to us, so we can give them new life and recycle what can no longer be used. Then we are guaranteed a circular solution also for football clothes, it is very important, says Thorsby. TWO MATCHES: Morten Thorsby is known for his fight for the environment, about as much as his fight for the ball. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT / BILDBYRÅN – How has the response been among the other players? – I think it has been good, everyone understands that this is only good, and that only positive things come out of it. The response has been very good, I have already received a lot of clothes and shoes, he says. So far, he has received some from his Norwegian colleagues, including some goalkeeper gloves from Ørjan Nyland and some football shoes from Alexander Sørloth and Mats Møller Dæhli. Get shoes and clothes after the national matches But since many use the same shoes for the rest of the season, Thorsby expects to get in far more when the last international match for the June collection is finished on Sunday, because then most players take a holiday. What what is collected will go to, depends a bit on, he says. Some things are quite good quality and can be given away immediately, for example to people who can not afford to pay themselves, while other things may need to be repaired in order to be used again. – And then there is a third thing, shoes and clothes that are not in good enough condition to be used again. Then it is a matter of recycling the shoes so that we get the materials that are possible to use again. And that if it is not possible to use again, it goes to incineration and places where it is not thrown straight into nature, says Thorsby.
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