Everyone against the government. The proposal by the Minister of Sports Andrea Abodi to establish a government agency for the economic-financial supervision of professional sports clubs, effectively depriving the existing bodies of their authority, triggers unanimous reactions of opposition. Coni, Federcalcio and Lega Calcio, Federbasket and Legabasket, top sports figures and parliamentary oppositions massacre the turning point imagined by the executive. In substance and method. “We risk making a global fool and, unfortunately, Italian governments are no strangers to similar situations”, fears CONI president Giovanni Malagò. Interviewed by Repubblica, he confesses “serious doubts” that the legislative blitz is “accepted by international sports bodies”. Again: “We are all disconcerted: Abodi managed to get Gravina and Lotito to agree for once (editor’s note, the president of the Football Federation and his arch-enemy at Lazio), he will go down in history…”.
The very timing of the measure exponentially multiplies the doubts. In football, Covisoc (the football club supervisory commission) essentially has a month, from 31 May to 30 June, “to manage its dynamics”, continues Malagò. If the decree passes, “between now and May 31st” the new government agency “should make appointments, choose the figures and be operational”. It’s not plausible, that’s the implication. And in reality, according to the CONI president, the measure could end up “affecting all sports”. He closed: “I find the word conflict wrong, in life there is always room for mending”, but these “times and ways cannot be accepted”.
Gabriele Gravina, number one of the FIGC, speaks of the law being “disrespectful towards three magistrates who are part of the current organization of Covisoc, extraordinary professionals, super partes”. And he officially asks Abodi for a meeting. The Football League also denounces the aggressive entry. The clubs claim “autonomy from politics” and “unanimously” express their “opposition” to the executive decree, reiterating “the need to proceed towards full autonomy of the Football League within the sporting system” . Evelina Christillin, UEFA member on the FIFA Council, raises doubts on all fronts. We must first see “what the final document will be” and then understand: between “UEFA-FIFA and the political agency”, who would prevail for the purposes of ‘clearances’? No doubt: “I am for the autonomy of sport”, reiterates the manager.
Federbasket and Legabasket confess astonishment at “having learned the news from the press agencies, a completely unusual method”. Not only. In a joint note, presidents Gianni Petrucci and Umberto Gandini dispute “the urgency of the measure” and express “concern” about “the timing and methods of application”. The latest blow is on the government agency’s expected reversal of costs on football and basketball clubs. Also in this case absolute “contraria”. The former coach of Italvolley Mauro Berruto, now national sports manager of the Democratic Party, sheds light on the case and catalogs it with very harsh words: “A project of political occupation, a tombstone on the autonomy and impartiality of those who will verify the financial statements” . According to the leader of the 5 Star Movement Giuseppe Conte, a sort of nostalgia for the “corporate law of the fascist era, when our civil code was filled with ‘corporate injections'” is even emerging in the government. Final question from the former prime minister: “Meloni and Abodi, are you really aware of what you are accomplishing?”
At the end of the evening Abodi tries to break the siege by confirming “full availability” to meet the presidents of FIGC, Lega Serie A, Lega B, Lega Pro, Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. Objective: “To configure” together “a third-party tool to make the national football system more efficient, credible, sustainable and competitive”. The game, perhaps, is still to be played.
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