It’s time to blaze together: SMILY Academy brings India to the Fireball Extreme Challenge World Cup in Italy in December 2025

Claudia Laricchia

It’s time to shape an inclusive and conscious global community. It’s time to play a new game for a new humanity.
It’s time for the FXC – Fireball Extreme Challenge™
What is Fireball?
Born from the need for a new kind of global game, Fireball Extreme Challenge™ (FXC) is more than a sport—it’s a movement.
This coed, high-energy team challenge is fast, fair, and built around inclusion, strategy, and transformation. With over 5,000 players across 8 countries, FXC turns sport into a tool for community building, wellness, gender equality, and joy.

Why are we investing in Fireball?
In a world shaped by conflict, climate anxiety, and rising mental health issues, FXC offers something rare: a shared pulse.
Sport brings smiles, joy, and unity. And SMILY is here for it. It also is an eco business opportunity. The competition will be held in Lignano Sabbiadoro, in Italy, from December 4 to 8 2025. This is one of the places to be in Italy, in the Adriatic coast, where sport meets strategy, nature meets leisure and lifestyle brings wellness. Lignano has high quality facilities, high-quality hospitality, and vibrant tourism culture, it’s the perfect setting where sport, tourism, and business come together to grow.
Besides, the sport itself is growing fast and it is exploding from 5,000 athletes from 8 countries to a contagious wave of humanity and further growth, attracting sponsors, media, sports brands, wellness companies, and tech startups. It offers real opportunities for businesses aiming to align with youth, inclusion, sustainability, and the sport of the future.
That’s why SMILY Academy—an international initiative promoting sustainable lifestyles and regenerative youth leadership—is proudly supporting FXC, bringing new energy and purpose to the global arena. In December 2025, at the FXC World Cup in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, Team India will debut on the global stage, proudly backed by SMILY and MaXaM Productions.
Sport is more than entertainment—it’s a growing economic and social force. Globally, the sports industry is projected to reach $700 billion by 2026, and evidence shows that sport helps combat loneliness, boosts mental health, and fosters social cohesion. At a time when divisions run deep, sport becomes a space for positive values and shared identity.
Companies have the chance to invest in something truly meaningful: youth development, global peacebuilding, and community wellness. Institutions can ally with a movement that’s rewriting what sport can be. Young talents, especially, are invited to become co-creators of a game that reflects their generation’s fire, values, and vision.

India’s Moment
Athletes from the Himalayas, powered by purpose led by delegate Utsav Soni – Head of SMILY Academy Social Mission – and Coach Vijay Thakur, India’s FXC team are born in Manali, raised in altitude, and trained in resilience.
These young athletes—products of tough terrain and tougher dreams—embody the FXC spirit. “Our players come from simple homes, big hearts, and fearless spirits,” says Utsav. “They’re not just athletes. They’re symbols of belief meeting opportunity.”

Their training at over 2,200 meters prepares them for a game that requires stamina, trust, and explosive intelligence. With roots in kabaddi, basketball, athletics, and handball, they move like a single organism. “You’ll see it when they play,” says Coach Vijay. “It’s more than training—it’s transformation”. The Indian team is playing for the right cause, for common values with our pioneer platform uniting humanity for a better future.
The Forest Man of India, Jadav Payeng, statement :

Why SMILY Academy? Why Now?
SMILY Academy is not just bringing athletes to a tournament—it’s planting seeds of human consciousness through sport. Co-founded by Jadav Payeng (India’s “Forest Man”), Rituraj Phukan, Munmuni Payeng, Matteo Salerno, and Claudia Laricchia, SMILY merges sustainability, culture, and education for action.
“Where I planted a forest,” said Jadav, “I now plant seeds of human consciousness with SMILY Academy, through platforms like the Fireball World Cup.”
SMILY believes sports like FXC can shift paradigms—from competition to cooperation, from status to service. At the FXC World Cup, everyone wears only the SMILY bib—no titles, no hierarchies, just the heart to play.

Call to Action
So—Are You Playing With Us?
The countdown is on. December 4–8, 2025. Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. Write to India@fireballsportfederation.com and not forget to mention SMILY Academy for a special treatment.
The alliance FXC and SMILY Academy, sport and educAction, is not just a tournament. It’s a declaration.
A wave of humanity.
A revolution wearing sneakers and a smile.
Are you ready to play the new game of humanity?
We’ll change the rules—one smile at a time.
https://www.fireballsportfederation.com/fxc-worldcup-2025

Prof. Claudia Laricchia, Smily Academy Global – President and co-founder; and Mahabahu Magazine correspondent from Europe
claudia.laricchia@smilyacademy.org www.smilyacademy.org ; Prof. Roberto Reali, Italian National Council for Research and Professor of History
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