The law of February 7, 1958, n°. 88, gave definite rules for teaching physical education and for the development of sport in the Italian school. It also marked the paths for the establishment of the Higher Institutes of Physical Education, first and foremost the public Institute of Rome besides others, that could arise and get the “equalization” with the need to fill an educational long void.

The law provided that an Institute should be emanated by a cultural institution and that was how it came to Florence, 28 March 1958, with the establishment of a Study Centre for Physical Education and Sporting Activities.

During the following life of the Research Centre numerous cultural and educational initiatives have been developed, by catering the needs and requirements coming from the sporting and the academic world. In the early 90s, according to the approval of the European Sports Charter, a strong interest by the European Union towards the sector of physical activity and sports emerged.

The Research Centre aims to deepen the scientific, technical, moral and social values linked to the physical education and sport activity. This no profit association pursues its goals through a documentation centre, which includes a library/newspaper and periodical library, as well as through the organization of congresses, conferences and workshops, and the implementation o f researches at technical , anthropological-social and scientific level.