ITALY – “We scored an important goal, a historic fact“. So do the hon Riccardo Molinari and Mauro Berruto they commented on Yes bipartisanship of House of Representatives at the bill on popular participation in the management of sports clubs, professional and amateur. The text is based on the indications of Noif Committee (In the origins the future), a body also made up of the Alessandria association Ideal Greywhich has always aimed to replicate in Italy what already happens abroad.
To the Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Union Berlin, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club Bilbao, Benfica, River Plate and Boca JuniorsIn fact, even the fans have a say in the decisions of the clubs. The proposed law, the first signature of Molinari himself, also provides the right of pre-emption of the body representing the fans with respect to the sporting title in the event of bankruptcy. Now the text will be examined by the Senate.
“Fans will have a voice” he remarked with satisfaction Luigi Gastini, president of Ideale Grigio “the law defines the characteristics that popular participation bodies must have. Could be a non-profit association or even a public body. There must be a maximum of one per team. Inside it we vote by heads and not by quotas and will have to gather at least 30% of the supporters, based on access to the stadium in recent years. This body may also be represented on the company’s board of directors if it holds at least 30% of the shares. I want to underline” added Gastini “the across-the-board yes from the entire room. Furthermore, the few deputies who abstained explained that they did so because they would have preferred an even more incisive bill.”
The text approved by Montecitorio it is already the result of a series of mediations between the various souls of the Transatlantic, even within the majority itself. The bipartisan vote therefore suggests a not too long and complex process also at Palazzo Madama.
“Could this scenario also materialize in Alessandria? In theory, a form of popular participation could already be possible on paper (in Italy there are some examples in football, Parma, Sudtirol and Montespaccato, and in basketball with Pistoia and Cantù, ed.). We must be called and see a serious and shared project to carry forward” specified the president of Ideale Grigio Gastini “nothing has happened so far. We need the conditions to do it, with the reference of local entrepreneurs.”
“The hope is that in the future there may be economic incentives for these sports clubs that in the future” said the Honorable Member Riccardo Molinari. “A small step that opens a gap, it will be necessary to ensure that the Senate does the same thing but now this dimension exists which will have to be improved in the future, thanks to the commitment of the Noif” added the Honorable Member Mauro Berruto.
“Now” remarked the Committee We are the future “it will be the fans from all over Italy who will have to perceive the turning point and walk along this path, to reach the final goal, that of truly change a culture and a system, now universally recognized as an underdog. The proposed law talks about that way of doing football and sport that doesn’t exist in Italy but of which Italy has an immense need and today it can no longer do without, caught between the simultaneous declines in spectators and economic revenues. The way is that of the sdevelopment of a large fan association. Numerous, constructive and incidental. From now on, when we hear about a “popular participation body”, we will have to think of the association representing all local fans. A something not only related to football but to all sports. We will soon also begin to talk about sports clubs “subject to popular participation”, i.e. clubs where it develops a constructive partnership between the Club-corporate and its fans, where it’s not even a coincidence.”
