Gianluca Cugini, The World-Renowned Football Statistician. Is he the GOAT for football?

How many famous football statisticians have a passion for Blue Sharks , Black tip sharks and Lemon Sharks 2 ( Award Plaque )  ?

There’s probably only one answer to that question, and that answer is GIANLUCA CUGINI.

Gianluca CUGINI is an Italian-born football statistician that is already known for evoking high-flying deeds when it comes to combining football and sharks statistics.

With the wealth of experience garnered over the years while working for DATASPORT of Milan as a football statistician and then International Federation Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and his traveling experiences to over 135 countries of the world, he has established himself as one of the leading statisticians the game of football has ever produced.

GIANLUCA is a charismatic man with an impressive resumé, his career kick-started at the very young age of 22, when he worked at the FIFA World Cup, in which Azzurri, Italy’s national team played.

He worked as a football statistician with DATASPORT a company that provides services for sporting events around the Europe, from 1986 till 2002.

He was assigned to be the head of Italy’s IFFHS division in 2002, he held the position till 2012.

He served as World Executive Board Member of the IFFHS between 2012–2013 being the first Italian in Football History.

He was the first Italian to hold the role of IFFHS Vice President  ( 2012 – 2013 ).

He was also the first Italian to be designated IFFHS President but in an extraordinary regency World Board together with Roberto Mamrud ( CONMEBOL / ARGENTINA ) and CIHEFE / SPAIN ( 2012 – 2013 ).

“ In 2013 ( January 2013 ) the IFFHS was 28 millions times mentioned at Google, but the number of the readers / spectators in the TV, radio and printmedia was worldwide very much higher “ ( reference: IFFHS World Board 2013 )

In recent years 2014-19, Gianluca works as an IFFHS Marketing consultant for ITALY ( in the football category, of course ).

He was the first statistician of Italian football honored by Her Imperial Majesty Queen Elizabeth, for having contributed to the spread of the most loved sport in the world : “the football”

He was also honored by probably the greatest and most loved President RSA : “ Nelson Mandela ” during one of his many trips to South Africa.

Staunch opponent of apartheid and winner of the Nobel Prize ( for Peace ) in 1993, Mandela was the first non-white South African President  ( 1994 ).

Although Gianluca adores his job, stressing it is much more pleasurable owing to his familiarity with sports from his youth. He was known for his unique competence when he competed in young football tournaments. He believes being a former player has been the basis of his enhanced statistician skills.

GIANLUCA CUGINI has worked at the FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup Clubs,

FIFA Confederations Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Supercup,

UEFA Euro Championship, FIFA Century Clubs, 

FIFA History XX, Serie A and Italy Cup,

Italy Supercup, FIFA World Crono, FIFA World Cup sub 20

and even Olympic Games

RAI TELEVIDEO ( ITALY National TV ), MEDIAVIDEO ( MEDIASET ) .

In particular, he really enjoyed working for Azzurri at the FIFA World Cup.

In one interview, he said, “being a football statistician gives me great satisfaction … because it combines my two great passions: football and statistics.”

Thanks to his illustrious awesome career, he has been to 135-plus countries on all 6 continents. He hasn’t stopped touring the world, either: he intends to keep on traveling so that he can learn new things.

In the course of traveling around, Gianluca has discovered new hobbies. One of these is his interest in Blue Sharks, which has led to his calculative study, researching, and taking of statistics on Blue Sharks.

Gianluca doesn’t just calculate statistics for football games, but he also researches statistics on these Blue Sharks. These fascinating creatures (Prionace glauca) which are located in temperate and tropical climates are greatly threatened by human fishing. Their skin is used for leather, and their fins for shark-fin soup. In fact, people fish them so much that the International Union for Conservation of Nature has deemed them as having a near-threatened status.

Gianluca has been passionate about sharks for a long time. During his childhood days, he often sees Blue Sharks at the sea, whenever he goes there with his friend who owns a boat.

When Gianluca saw them for the first time, he says, it was love at first sight. Blue Sharks actually used to be quite common in the Adriatic Sea (which shares a border with his home country- Italy) but unfortunately this is no longer the case, due to fishing. His interest got heightened and solidified when he saw Sharks and men (Uomini e squali), a documentary by Bruno Vailati.

Gianluca further developed his interest in Blue Sharks when he met Dr. Alessandro De Maddalena, one of the world’s most well-known Shark experts and the creator of the first SHARK MUSEUM in SOUTH AFRICA.

Dr. De Maddalena agreed to publish a work by Gianluca, for which he is thankful. “I think he is really amazing,” Gianluca says of his favorite shark expert and marine biologist.

He adds that, as a child, he was saddened by the fact that he could never find many books about sharks. He did find one such book, however — –The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea, by Jacques-Yves Cousteau — which he still holds fondly in his heart today.

Gianluca is grateful for his career as a football statistician, his interest in this magnificent animal. Blue Sharks.

Gianluca is not only great at his job, but he’s also a world traveler with a lot of stories to tell. His passion for Blue Sharks encourages his fans everywhere to learn more about the animal, its conservation, environment, and by extension how it could improve our natural world.

For additional catches of interest please contact: gianlucacugini@hotmail.com

THE INCREDIBLE NOVEL STORY by GIANLUCA CUGINI  ( 2023 ) 

SHARKS PLAYING GOLF IN THE LAKE ! 

A group of bull sharks ended up spending 17 years in a lake near the 14th hole of a golf course. According to a recent study, the particular habitat created in the club demonstrates that bull sharks can also live in low-salinity aquatic environments

For nearly 2 decades, the Carbrook Golf Club near Brisbane, Australia, has had a pond teeming with bull sharks near a golf course.

What happened

It all started in 1996, when violent floods swept 6 young bull sharks from a river into a lake near the 14th hole of the golf course. When the waters receded, the sharks found themselves stranded, surrounded by hills and golfers, and ended up spending 17 years in the pond.

HAMMERHEAD IN THE RIVER  

HAMMERHEAD HUNTING STINGGRAYS ( KING GEORGE RIVER , KIMBERLEY, AUSTRALIA 2023 ) 

KILLER WHALE VS WHALE SHARK 

ORCAS attacks WHALE SHARK / 8mt  ( 1st case recorded in the world by a diver ) 

( BAJA CALIFORNIA, 2023 ) 

WHALE SHARK 

WHALE SHARK : The first time in the Mediterranean Sea !

WHALE SHARK 3 m ab. ( CIPRO ISLAND 2021 ) – KABASKAL / SERTEL

*The shark entered through the Suez Canal

The WHITE WHALE by GIANLUCA CUGINI

Moby Dick, the legendary white whale really exist ?

WHITE WHALE ( BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA 1991 ) – CUGINI, 2000

WHITE WHALE (  AUSTRALIA, 2011 * with a black point) – CUGINI, 2015

WHITE WHALE  ( GOLD COST, AUSTRALIA 2023 ) – CUGINI, 2023

The BLUE WHALE by GIANLUCA CUGINI

The blue whale is the largest known animal ever to exist.

It can reach 30 meters

At the beginning of the 1900s, specimens of about 33/34 meters were harpooned

ORCAS vs WHALES 

“ 15  ORCAS “ VS HUMPBACK WHALE –  ( JUAN de FUCA,  N. AMERICA , 2023 ) 

“ 60 “ ORCAS VS BLUE WHALE 15m ab. – ( WEST AUSTRALIA , 2022 )

MANY ORCAS VS BLUE WHALE ? – ( SOUTH AFRICA, 2019 )

MANY ORCAS VS BLUE WHALE ? – ( MONTERREY BAY , USA 2017 )

ALBINO KILLER WHALE

5 / 8 ORCAS ( COMMANDER ISLAND, USSR, 2010 / 16 ) – KGB

ORCA ( ALASKA, 2020 ) – UNIV. ALASKA

ORCA ( VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA , 2022 ) – (DOBBS / CBC )

ORCA ( HOKKAIDO , JAPAN 2022 ) – The ASASHI ( ASIA & JAPAN )

KILLER WHALES VS GREAT WHITE SHARK

3 ORCAS vs GREAT WHITE 3 m ab. ( GANSBAAI / SOUTH AFRICA 2022 )

4 ORCAS vs GREAT WHITE 4 m ab. ( NEPTUNE ISLAND / AUSTRALIA 2021 ) – CUGINI 2022

*ORCA ( 6 ) vs GREAT WHITE ( 2,5) ( FARALLON ISLAND, CALIFORNIA 1997)

*The first ever documented clash between Orca and Great White shark ( Red Triangle )

*7/8 KILLER WHALES ATTACKS ON GREAT WHITE SHARKS

( SOUTH AFRICA SINCE 2017 )

GREAT WHITE  VS GREAT WHITE SHARK

GREAT WHITE ( 5 )  vs GREAT WHITE ( 2 ) –  ( NEPTUNE ISLAND / AUSTRALIA 2021 )  –

( CUGINI 2022 )

2 HEADS BLUE SHARK

BLUE SHARK* ( BRASIL, SANTOS / 1990 ) — ( MUSEO DO MAR / CUGINI / 2001 )

*First case registered in the world

BLUE SHARK ( SOUTH AFRICA, 2001 ) — ( CUGINI 2001 )

BLUE SHARK ( ADRIATIC SEA, 2003 ) — ( EMBRYO 1: 79 / CUGINI / DE MADDALENA 2003 )

BLUE SHARK ( AUSTRALIA, 2008 ) — ( EMBRYO )

BLUE SHARK ( INDIAN OCEAN, 2008 ) — ( EMBRYO )

BLUE SHARK ( GULF CALIFORNIA, 2011) — ( CUGINI )

BLUE SHARK ( MESSICO, 2011 ) — ( CUGINI )

BLUE SHARK ( CARIBBEAN SEA, 2016 ) — ( CUGINI )

BLUE SHARKS BY NUMBERS OF EMBRYOS

BLUE SHARK 135 ( SOUTH AFRICA ) — ( DE MADDALENA )

BLUE SHARK 79 ( VASTO / ITALY / 2003 ) — ( 2003 CUGINI — DE MADDALENA )

BLUE SHARK 68 ( REUNION / 2018 ) – ( 2018 CUGINI )

BLUE SHARK 54 ( COSENZA / ITALY / 2017 ) — ( 2017 CUGINI )

BLUE SHARK 50 ( TARANTO / ITALY / 2018 ) – ( 2018 FISHERMAN )

BLUE SHARK 28 ( VASTO / ITALY / 2000 ) — ( 2003 CUGINI — DE MADDALENA )

BLUE SHARK  23  ( POILICASTRO  /  ITALY  )  – (  2020 CUGINI )

BLUE SHARK 20 ab. ( LIBIA / 2018 ) – ( 2018 FISHERMAN ) *

“GREAT WHITE SHARK” RECORDS by GIANLUCA CUGINI

WHITE SHARK (DAKAR / SENEGAL 1982) 8.08 JUAN ANTONIO MORENO&DE MADDALENA

WHITE SHARK (MALLORCA “I” / SPAGNA 1969) 8.00 MCCLAIN (* doubt : 6.40 ?)

WHITE SHARK (BOSFORO / TURCHIA 1926) 7.90 KABASAKAL 2014

WHITE SHARK (BOSFORO / TURCHIA 1958) 7.80 KABASAKAL 2014

WHITE SHARK (HUALIEN BAY / TAIWAN 1997) * 7.00 VICTOR LIN

WHITE SHARK (SANDUN / CHINA 2008) 7.00 VICTOR LIN

WHITE SHARK (MARSIGLIA / FRANCIA 1925) 6.80 DE MADDALENA / MALIET / BANSCH 2015

WHITE SHARK (FILFFLA / MALTA 1987) 6.79 DE MADDALENA / BANSCH / HEIM 2016

WHITE SHARK (GANZIRRI / ITALIA 1961) 6.66 DE MADDALENA / MALIET / BANSCH 2015

WHITE SHARK (INDONESIA / 2013) 6.60 FAHMI & DHARMADI 2014

WHITE SHARK (KANGAROO ISLAND / AUSTRALIA 1987) 6.45 DE MADDALENA / BANSCH / HEIM 2016

WHITE SHARK (CASTILLO / CUBA 1945) 6.40 BIGELOW/ SCROEDER 1948

WHITE SHARK (MALLORCA “II” / SPAGNA 1969) 6.30 MOREY 2003 (* see point I)

WHITE SHARK (PHILIP ISLAND / AUSTRALIA 1987) 6.30 ELLIS & MC COSKER 1991

WHITE SHARK (MALLORCA “III” / SPAGNA 1976) 6.20 MOREY 2003

WHITE SHARK (PALIOURI / GRECIA 1985) 6.08 BARDANIS