Abodi: “Is football agitated by financial controls? Where were they when they wrote off the clubs’ debts?
The Minister of Sport: "The government agency will be a third party, to protect virtuous clubs." Malagò: "We risk making a global fool"
ROME – “I saw so much agitation, I would have liked to see the same excitement when the debts of the professional clubs of A, B and C were written off for over 100 million in the year alone The last year and a half, two years, evidently the checks have not stopped some realities. Furthermore, it is a draft that is subject to further contributions. The text is not definitive. Andrea Abodi thus defends the draft decree which establishes the birth of a government agency for economic and financial supervision and control over professional sports clubs, therefore football and basketball, interviewed on Radio anch’io sport, on Radio 1.
“We are talking about financial controls – says the minister – which should be an almost indifferent topic. They must be done well and possibly third-party. Nothing is touched on the registration criteria and the attribution of licenses. I would like to know where the attack on the autonomy of sport is“.
MALAGO’: WE RISK A WORLD RECORD
The topic has inflamed sports institutions throughout the weekend. interviewed by Repubblica the president of CONI Giovanni Malagò spoke this morning of a “global fool”: “I say this very frankly, I have serious doubts that this speech can be accepted by international sports bodies. Therefore, at least, before taking any position at a regulatory level this must be verified. Otherwise you risk making a fool of yourself worldwide and, unfortunately, Italian governments are no strangers to similar situations “.
AND ABODI ANSWERS
Abodi responds to Malagò’s criticisms: “He received the document from the president of the FIGC, the language used by Malagò is not always the most formal at this moment. When the debts were written off, the interest of the State was affected and sport, and Malagò knows that those 100 million would partly return to sport. The institutions have posed the problem of creating a third, authoritative body. Not because Covisoc is not third party it is federal. Sports autonomy is not affected
“The costs? 2.5 million euros in a world that has a financial turnover of several billion seems to me to be an investment in safety and impartiality that is especially needed by the clubs that ask that everyone respect the same rules. We want to guarantee fair competition becauseI wouldn’t want the clubs that pay everything to be considered second level compared to those that don’t pay, sign up and perhaps even manage to achieve sporting results that the virtuous ones instead jeopardize due to prudent management choices strong>”.
“The law cannot be overturned but integrated and enriched. And it does not go in this Council of Ministers. We must take a step forward. The money that football gives to the treasury is the money of the fans, not of someone else. Even those of the TVs are the money of the fans who subscribe, and also out of respect for them this technical phase makes a third contribution to mutuality, for 130 million every year contributes to the general taxation of the sports system, we have every interest in making the machine work and contributing to improving its reputation. We need the right institutional education.”