The aim of this guide is to achieve the highest sporting level combined with the greatest geographical representation of participants, seeking to achieve the best balance to reconcile the expectations of athletes and coaches, supporters, sponsors and the local communities of reference while respecting their social, economic and cultural traditions.
The teams requesting participation in the G.P. Palio del Recioto will therefore be selected according to the following criteria:

1. Criterion of team sporting merit

• The intention is to invite, in this way, those sporting groups which, due to tradition, the quality of their technical staff, economic and organisational capacity, have demonstrated, with continuity over time, that they are able to set up highly competitive teams, provided that their staff includes athletes with technical characteristics suitable for the race course.
• The first team invited is the winner of the previous edition.

2. Criterion of maximum geographical representation
In order to meet this criterion, it is first stipulated that approximately two thirds of the available places are reserved for foreign sports teams. The remaining places will be allocated to Italian teams, one of which, if present, will be from Verona.

• Secondly, one team from each continent is invited. If no teams from a particular continent are present, preference is given to a team whose members include athletes from that continent. For this purpose, South and North America are considered as two separate continents.
• As far as foreign teams are concerned, the first step will be to invite one team per country. If there are still places available, other teams from the same country can be invited at a later date. The nationality of a team can be identified both by its registered office and by the origin of its athletes, for example: a team based in Ireland with a majority of Italian athletes can be considered Italian.
• Among the teams belonging to the same nation, preference will be given to those which, in addition to the previous technical criteria, are able to offer the greatest degree of media visibility through TV, newspapers, the web and social media. In particular, it is a point of excellence for a team to have the possibility of broadcasting images of the Palio del Recioto on a TV station in its own country or to obtain a publication about the race in one or more newspapers or websites. Similarly, the degree of communication, activities and interactions on the social profiles of the team and any other initiative aimed at involving and attracting fans and enthusiasts to Negrar di Valpolicella will be evaluated.

3. Criterion of individual sporting merit

• This criterion concerns athletes who, although not belonging to major sports groups, have demonstrated important sporting qualities, as well as characteristics that make them suitable for the type of route proposed.
• In this regard, the organisation may grant wildcards to individual athletes, either at its own discretion or by identifying merit criteria, which will allow the team for which they are registered to participate in the Palio del Recioto.
• All the implementing rules governing the choice of teams may be applied at their discretion. In fact, the commission in charge of choosing the participating teams must guarantee the pursuit of the greatest possible balance between all the components, as indicated in the introduction. It could, for example, decide to invite three teams from a single nation, while excluding another, in order to respect the criteria of sporting merit.