Andrew Orsatti
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Andrew Orsatti (born 23 April 1975 in Sydney, Australia) is the Communications Director and Spokesman for football's international players' union FIFPro. Before his present role, Orsatti worked as a sports journalist and football commentator for ESPN in the United States. A former professional footballer himself, Orsatti spent his formative years as an investigative football journalist and broadcaster with the
Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...
(SBS) in Australia. He previously sat on the
Australian Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), formerly the Australian Soccer Players' Association, is an Australian trade union affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and FIFPRO that represents professional male, female and eli ...
(PFA) Awards Committee alongside a host of former Australian internationals and media professionals.


Football career

Growing up in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia, Orsatti's football career started to show promise while playing for the youth teams of former
National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
club
APIA Leichhardt APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was forme ...
. He attracted interest from various Italian clubs including
A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...
,
Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
,
Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...
,
Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...
and
Lucchese Lucchese may refer to: * A.S. Lucchese Libertas 1905, a football team based in Lucca, Tuscany * Lucchese crime family, one of the "Five Families" of New York City's Mafia * Lucchese School, an art school in Tuscany, Italy that flourished in the 11 ...
during the 1992/93 season. After two years in Italy, Orsatti suffered a serious knee injury while playing for Italian lower division club Penne. During the European summer of 1994, he was offered a contract by then Serie A club
Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...
. However, after multiple knee operations he never returned to full-time professional football. In 2002, he appeared in the 'If Only' series on SBS, in which Australia's
1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
defender,
Manfred Schäfer Manfred Schaefer (12 February 1943 – 28 March 2023) was a German soccer player who played as a defender. At club level he won titles with St. George Budapest. Born in Germany, he represented the Australian national team internationally, pa ...
, described Orsatti as a "big time" player whom he had expected to excel in one of the world's top competitions.


Media career

Orsatti completed an Associate Diploma in Journalism at Macleay College in Sydney, in 1995. After joining SBS as a cadet journalist in 1996, Orsatti quickly rose through the ranks to become the weekend host of the network's daily, prime-time 30 minute sports news show, ''Toyota World Sports''. At 21, he was one of the youngest free-to-air presenters in Australian broadcasting at the time. He was later assigned to major sporting events that included the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
,
Basketball World Championship The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...
, World Swimming Championships, and the summer
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
of 2000 and 2004. Orsatti specialised in football, on SBS, covering marquee events such as the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
,
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
and English
FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
s. He travelled to the
1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
, in France,
2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, in Korea/Japan,
Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
in the Netherlands/Belgium, and
Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...
in Portugal. Orsatti was the face of SBS'
2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...
coverage. Before his departure from SBS to ESPN in late 2007, Orsatti also wrote opinion pieces and presented 'The Shootout', alongside former Australian international midfielder,
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, for
The World Game ''The World Game'' was an Australian football (soccer) television show broadcast on the SBS network, as well as a dedicated associated website. The show debuted in September 2002 and was the only Australian TV program dedicated to both footba ...
website. Orsatti anchored SBS' award-winning telecast of Australia's Round of 16 World Cup match against Italy. SBS received a
Logie Award The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Television in Australia, Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The eve ...
for the event, the highest distinction in Australian television, for the Most Outstanding Sports Coverage of 2006. Orsatti was strangely overwhelmed with happiness after Australia lost the match, angering many Australian viewers, for whom he was meant to be broadcasting for.


The Farina incident

In March 2005, Orsatti was allegedly assaulted by Australia's national football coach
Frank Farina Frank Farina Order of Australia, OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian Association football, football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belg ...
.The Muppets jibe that fuelled a war
Sydney Morning Herald, 3 April 2005
According to police and eye-witness reports, Farina grabbed Orsatti by the throat following a heated verbal exchange in the players' tunnel immediately after a friendly international against
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. Orsatti dropped the charges after Farina, who often accused SBS of unfair criticism, issued a public apology and promised to co-operate in the future. Farina was ordered to undergo anger-management counseling and was sacked four months later by
Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...
(FFA). Farina's demise, while not a direct result of the alleged altercation with Orsatti but three straight defeats at the 2005 Confederations Cup, came during an administrative overhaul of Australian football. Farina's departure ultimately led to the appointment of Dutch coach
Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...
who led Australia to its first World Cup finals appearance in 32 years.


ESPN

Orsatti moved to the global headquarters of US sports broadcaster ESPN in December 2007. He fronted a variety of shows, including the cable network's international version of its flagship daily program,
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande,  Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
, in the Pacific-Rim and Atlantic markets, covering parts of Africa, the Caribbean, Middle East, Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He was a regular contributor to ESPN's many football telecasts, providing English commentary for
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
,
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
and
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
matches. Orsatti also appeared as a regular host of ESPNFC.com's daily half-hour show which was broadcast across the channel's US-based platform and seen in a variety of other markets worldwide. In May 2008, Orsatti made his US television debut on
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...
anchoring the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League and also made numerous appearances as the host of ESPN's English Premier League coverage for a large US viewing audience. Orsatti was based in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
for ESPN's coverage of the 2008 European Championships. He offered daily reports and analysis for the US and international markets. He fulfilled a similar role in South Africa during the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
.


Major events

*
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
South Africa – ESPN reporter * 2009 UEFA Cup Final, Istanbul, Shakhtar Donetsk-Werder Bremen, ESPN Commentator *
UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...
, Switzerland/Austria – ESPN reporter/analyst *
2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...
, Germany – SBS studio host * 2005 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Australia v Uruguay, Sydney – SBS sideline interviews/commentary *
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
, Athens, Greece – SBS studio host *
2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...
(cycling) – SBS studio host/commentator *
UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...
, Portugal – SBS reporter *
2003 UEFA Champions League Final The 2003 UEFA Champions League final was a Association football, football match that took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by two Ital ...
, Manchester, England – SBS reporter *
2001 UEFA Champions League Final The 2001 UEFA Champions League final was a football match that took place at San Siro in Milan, Italy, on 23 May 2001, to decide the winner of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League. The match pitted German side Bayern Munich against Spanish side ...
, Milan, Italy – SBS reporter *
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
, Sydney, Australia – SBS reporter *
UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...
, Belgium/Netherlands – SBS reporter *
2000 UEFA Champions League Final The 2000 UEFA Champions League final was a football match that took place on 24 May 2000. The match was played at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, to determine the winner of the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. The final pitted Spanish ...
, Paris, France – SBS reporter *
1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and hosted in Greece ...
(basketball), Athens, Greece – SBS reporter *
1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
, France – SBS reporter * 1998 FINA World Swimming Championships, Perth, Australia – SBS reporter


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsatti, Andrew 1975 births Sportsmen from New South Wales Living people Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australian sports broadcasters Soccer players from Sydney Men's association football players not categorized by position Association football players not categorized by nationality