User:Daniele Fortunato/sandbox

CEO/Co-Founder of The Fusion Project, Daniele Fortunato, is native to Rome, Italy where he was raised by a small, working class family. Ever since he was young, Fortunto has always had a passion for soccer. Many times, he would prefer to play soccer in the street with friends rather than do homework. He’s never had a single regret from his young life.

When he moved to high school, his career with the A.S. Roma soccer team started and he began to have less time to dedicate to the books. For his family, school and studying was important, much more important than sports, but he knew that school was not his future. At 17 years old, Fortunato left school and his peers to sign his first professional contract. Soccer became his first priority.

He really appreciates all that his family had to sacrifice in order to give him the best education and the best possible opportunity in the sport he loves. He can never forget that, but he has always choosen his own destiny. Unfortunately, it wasn’t education-based. Fortunato has always believed that we cannot judge others from where they come from.

For several months, he wandered around between the various areas of the youth and first team from England (Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers) to end up in Scotland with the Glasgow Rangers. Fortunato signed a contract for three and half years with the club’s most prestigious Scottish league.

When he moved to Scotland, he didn’t speak a word of English. Daniele studied very hard for several months while working with a personal teacher to learn the language. The more he stepped into the real world, he began to see things as he had never seen before. He began to realize, life is not what you study in a book, life is something that we learn from everyday.

The years he spent in the Rangers’ club made him grow up quickly in all areas of being a man, but especially in character. He trained with players who had won major championships, participated in World Cups, and who earned wages that would make your head spin (e.g., Ronald de Boer, Barry Ferguson, Michael Arteta, Lorenzo Amoruso, Claudio Caniggia, Arthur Numan, Stephan Klose, Shota Arvelatze, Tore Andre Flo). He also had the privilege of knowing the most amazing coaches (the likes of Dick Advocaat and Alex Mcleish). Although he was only 18 years old at the time, Fortunato realized how rare and unique this kind of environment was.

His team comrades in the youth sector, but mostly of the first team, and especially Lorenzo Amoruso, helped him immensely to prepare mentality. He really has to thank all the people he had met in that unique two-and-half-year journey. During that time, the Glasgow Rangers began to develop and Fortunato understood not only how to run a high-level club, but how to make improvements and changes to the organization of this fantastic sport called soccer.

However, as the years passed, he was not able to take off in his career as he had wanted and how his coaches had hoped for. This was prevented, due to fate, bad luck and the people that happened to surround him during that time. Looking back, he can now admit that he defines success differently and has learned from his mistakes.

After reluctantly leaving Scotland, Fortunato landed in the Serie A Ancona, debuting just 20th in the Italian top flight. Here, he played alongside great champions like Goran Pander, Maurizio Ganz, Rapajc and many others.

During the years that followed, he tried to become what he thought he was born to be… a professional star footballer, as his old teammates of AS Roma had become (just like Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani, Simone Pepe and others). But as the years went on and past experience had taught him (as in Poland with Widzew Lotdz), most of the time, talent alone is not enough. Timing, (the need to be at the right place at the right time), and above all, surrounding yourself by good people who support you before their own interests.

The dreams of many players have been broken and their futures have been compromised by being around the wrong people. So, Fortuanto decided to create this project especially for those who can, one day, see a bright future; a future even better than the one they once envisioned.

Ultimately, Daniele decided to end his soccer career and start from scratch. He moved to the United States where he began to see a tremendous amount of opportunity in professional sports, especially soccer. It was then that he understood the “American Dream” that so many people referred to. For him, it meant that anyone could achieve success through hard work, determination, and initiative.

In 2014, Fortunato created F Group International in conjunction with Gaetano Di Renzo (founder of GDR Studio International Consulting & Associates), where the two worked for several years on a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex, to be called, “The Fusion Project.” Although young, he has taken his vast inside knowledge of professional soccer and combined it with his entrepreneurial acumen to create the platform for an ambitious multi-faceted sports & entertainment facility planned to be built in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Fusion Project’s main components of the multi-functional Sports Village include: A versatile stadium that can accommodate up to 70,000 spectators for a wide range of major league soccer and other professional sporting events as well as hosting concerts for attendance for up to 90,000; multiple towers to accommodate hotel, meetings & conventions, office space and a retail/shopping area. The project intends to host several other aspects from the sports world, to include Baseball, Rugby, Football, Polo Grounds and Equestrian Center and their respective Academies. Multi-sports academy and training center will offer educational programs and systems for training of professional athletes and young amateurs.

Fortunato realized during his career that timing is everything and that to be a success, you need to surround yourself with people that possess integrity and the drive to fully accomplish their goals. He has taken these lessons into his entrepreneurial career with F Group International and the Fusion Project that’s planned to be developed in Las Vegas. Fortunato hand-picked a stellar team that’s working to bring his vision to reality. This highly ambitious Las Vegas project will blend the synergies between professional sports and training facilities, entertainment, charitable programs and environmental awareness in an all-inclusive complex. The Sports Village will become a nexus for athletics, built in the spirit of equality with a focus on the development of skill and athleticism as well as dignity and self-fulfillment for all. His vision also includes creating the strongest and most prestigious soccer club in North America.

The project is primarily for this reason. Daniele now believes that he was destined to create a high level professional club that will give athletes the opportunity to realize their dreams.

The management staff will be of a professional level, equal to that of Barcelona or Manchester United. They will make a positive impact on all those with whom they come into contact. Over the next 10 years, he wants to create the strongest and most prestigious club in North America, a club that will play in the Intercontinental Cup.

Remember, two soccer teams, which have been among the strongest in the world for decades started from nothing. Anything can be accomplished with the right will and determination. If someone can dream, continuously work and move forward, without fear, they certainly will have won this game we call life. Fortunato has done just that.

So, along with the collaboration of many professionals who have helped him, he has built the project, “the Fusion.” Fortunato is now the President/CEO and founder of  F Group International and is creating this project with his growing and valuable team.

Daniele threw himself into this adventure, while keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground, moving in careful steps at the right time. Whomever might read this brief introduction into his life will relate, even if only a small amount. Because of this he knows that this project, and dream will become a reality.