Antonio Tiberi is a top professional cyclist. He was the junior world time-trial champion in 2019. The man has talent. But he was foolish and did not realise what he was doing or the potential consequences of his actions. Note: well-publicised crimes against animals result in severe damage to reputation particularly to high-profile sportsmen and women who rely heavily on good character to bring in sponsorship revenue.
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Then 12 months ago when he was 22 years of age he shot a cat with an air rifle. The cat belonged to Frederico Pedini Amati, San Marino’s Minister of tourism and former captain regent.
The incident happened in June 2022 and Antonio Tiberi confessed when questioned in November of the same year. It appears he was convicted of animal cruelty and fined €4,000 in February 2023.
He was suspended from his team, Trek-Segafredo, because of the crime. The public protested and they erected banners reading “Tiberi out” at the team’s headquarters. Many thought the punishment wasn’t enough and there were calls for him to be stripped of his residency in San Marino where athletes benefit from tax privileges.
His team said that they would work with him to improve his behaviour and to ensure that he expressed remorse. He was, however, released from the team in April because he apparently did not satisfy the team’s criteria for a return.
Tiberi has regretted his behaviour and said that he would donate all his winnings to an animal welfare organisations. He admits that he did something irresponsible and that he didn’t realise the seriousness and danger of what he had done until afterwards.
He said that:
“My intention was to measure the weapon’s shooting range, so I was targeting a no-parking sign. I also admit that I just as foolishly and unconsciously tried to shoot a cat. And to my surprise, I shot it. I had no intention of killing the animal. In fact I was convinced the weapon was non-lethal.”
He is now riding for Bahrain Victorious. He was signed on June 1 last year and he rode in La Vuelta where he was the fourth of five riders from the team in the top 20.
It is admitted that he is a talented rider and can achieve great things in the sport but it’s important that he grows at a personal level said the managing director of the team, Milan Erzen. He added that:
“Antonio has made some mistakes, but he realises that and our focus on discipline, character building and guidance will help him on a path to long-term success both on and off the bike.”
As mentioned he learned several lessons such as cats are sentient beings capable of feeling pain and that the public do not take kindly to cat killing celebrities. The public are often vociferous on social media in attacking celebs under these circumstances. There are many millions of cat lovers and animal advocates on social media. Beware of them.
Image credit; By Marianne Casamance – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116441514
Just like Michael Vick, all is forgiven, now move along people!
😊 Yep, I get that argument. It is a good one. And the man should be given a second chance to get on with his career. But..there is always a but, this was a serious crime against an animal and in most countries a criminal record sticks around for up to 10 years at a guess. A criminal record affects job applications. Although the new report does not say he was convicted of a crime, he was fined so I have to assume that he was convicted and has a criminal record. Wrong? Some tell me please. Society believes that when a person commits a serious crime they need to pay and payment lasts quite a long time if not permanently if the crime is very serious.