The president of Napoli Aurelio De Laurentiis in the Senate he took stock of the state of health of Italian football: “I regret to point out that politicians in general believe that the Government should not be interested in football in economic terms. Or rather that the Government itself cannot create the conditions that can eliminate the billions of debts that football accumulates every year. We ask for money, but for legislative changes that allow our sector to recover economic and financial energy” are his words reported by Fanpage.
The Azzurri owner added: “We allowed total chaos in going from 16 teams to 18 and then 20 from 1986. But the matches passed and will pass, until the new championship, at 75/80. The players will be worn out because. whoever gets to the end, there will be such wear and tear that the following year that champion will probably have to retire and not participate with the same physicality, preparation and mind in the next championship”.
On the stadium issue: “We don’t have stadiums and infrastructure, and a law has been passed to speed it up but it remains to be seen because then when it goes into the hands of local politics, there is bureaucracy. To invest in stadiums, we also need to see a ‘ cleaning’ of the fans. In England the hooligans have been put out. Here we have conditioning fans who can dictate restrictive laws regarding the attendance of the stadium. When I put the problem to the politicians (he cites past governments, ed.), I was stunned , I was told: ‘Look, the fans go to the stadium and we can’t govern them.’ Because they represent votes. This is very serious, it represents an admission of weakness of the State, it also means admitting delinquency to those inside the stadium. fans going to the free stadium that belongs to them is inconceivable.”
And then again: “We should eliminate the blackmail of the agents which are the real problem of the football system due to indebtedness. They cause the costs of the various players to rise and rise. How can they be fought? By extending by law the possibility of making contracts, for at least 8 years so that after the first two years the agent does not go to other clubs to increase the salary initially expected for that player. And then the clubs should not be given the opportunity to be agents of the players. Then the problem would be solved: there would be no illegal situations, which we hear about without concrete evidence, abroad.”
