«Yesterday the email from UEFA and FIFCA arrived, very severe, it is an email that invites us to put pressure on the government authority to go back on this provision which is considered, let’s say, to violate the autonomy of sport». This was announced by the president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravinareferring to the new “Independent Commission for verifying the economic and financial balance of professional sports clubs” established by the Sports Decree.
Gravina spoke on the issue during the hearing called by the Culture Committee of the Chamber. «The rule violates not only the principles of the market economy, but is clearly not in line with the principles of autonomy sanctioned by the rulings of the Constitutional Court», explained the number one of the Football Federation.
And referring in particular to respect for the rules of the market economy, he noted, among other things: «There are one hundred professional football clubs, all joint-stock companies, and as such are subject to the rules of the civil code». The new Commission, he underlined, «it should indicate remedial corrective measures within the management of the company, but why apply them only to joint-stock companies in the world of football? I see one unequal treatment compared to other sectors of the economy of our country, and the law seems to establish a centralized and governmental bureaucratic structure, from all points of view, not at all agile and we really cannot understand how it can communicate: we will have an organism for the mission, an organism for periodic checks that what remains, I believe, from what we have read, are the federal council, the board of guarantees and two levels of judgment at the activity level of the administrative judiciary».
Gravina then expressed doubts about the reasons for the urgency of the measures, entrusted to a law decree, and defended the work of Covisoc, the current Supervisory Commission, underlining that the body «it performed its task brilliantly, it turned out to be an instrument that works perfectly».
Finally, responding to the deputies’ findings regarding the indebtedness of the printing companies, Gravina clarified: «In the market economy, indebtedness is also expected and the legal principles established for all companies operating in a market economy are applied and respected».
