The partnerships are designed to help the growth of teqball in the country and globally.

Football club AS Roma – three times champions of Italy – Sapienza University of Rome and the Italian International Institute of Sports Society Studies (IIISSS) are the other organisations FITEQ has partnered with. FITEQ donated teqball tables to CONI, Roma and Sapienza, with a ceremony held in the Italian capital to mark the occasion.

"FITEQ wants to inspire hope in the coming months of recovery and believes sport and healthy living will play a key role in this process," FITEQ general secretary Marius Vizer Jr said following the event. "Through our partnership with CONI, AS Roma and Sapienza University of Rome, we will be able to help bring teqball to more people in Italy. As a football-loving country, and one that has already competed in the Teqball World Championships, we believe teqball and Italy are a perfect match. We are looking forward to working closely with our new partners to encourage more people to be active through the sport of teqball.

Gergely Murányi, left, and Raffaele Chiulli at the ceremony

Raffaele Chiulli, President of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), was among those present at the ceremony and donated a table to IIISSS. Chiulli held a progress meeting with the FITEQ leadership last month. It came after FITEQ was officially granted observer status by the GAISF Council in January – it is now targeting full membership.

The handover ceremony in Rome was the first of its kind to take place since anti-coronavirus restrictions were eased.

Gergely Murányi, FITEQ's head of diplomatic relations and corporate social responsibility, István Iglói-Nagy, who heads the sports diplomacy department of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, deputy head of mission at the Hungarian Embassy László Dávid Galántai and Cecilia D’Angolo, CONI's head of corporate social responsibility, were all present.

Manolo Zubiria, AS Roma's chief global sporting officer, Sapienza University of Rome rector professor Antonello Folco Biagini, Gábor Kudar – head of the Hungarian Academy in Rome – and ELIS director Pierluigi Bartolomei were also in attendance.

ELIS, an educational college, is to receive the table given to CONI.

Biagini added: "Sport is a leading part of life at the Sapienza University of Rome and we are convinced of its importance in stimulating learning. Teqball in particular is a sport that doesn't just challenge players physically, it also makes players think strategically. It can also be enjoyed by players of all abilities and ages, which truly makes it a sport for all."