Is Italian soccer in crisis? Clubs fail to be competitive in the market, the federation does not deal forcefully with emergencies, and political meddling is total.
The situation is dramatic. This is the summary of the position expressed by Marco Bellinazzo, journalist for Il Sole 24 Ore, interviewed at the microphones of calciomercato.it, broadcast on the Twitch TVPLAY channel. Bellinazzo wanted to take stock of the state of health, financial, cultural and institutional, of Italian soccer, calling the entire system in crisis.
“We have reached the largest deficit in the history of soccer,” the journalist said. “And that tells us what the situation is like. Confirming this is the market that all the clubs are doing: a market as poor as ever, based on loans, buy-back rights and zero deals. The situation is really dramatic. Soccer is in crisis.”
The deficit that the interviewee talks about obviously depends mostly on the 2021/22 season, when the worst financial performance for Serie A, B, and C clubs was recorded. Blame the pandemic, but not only that. Excessive labor costs and infrastructure delays have also been influential. And so total debts rose from 5.3 billion to 5.6 billion.
In the last three seasons, the total loss produced by Italian professional soccer was nearly 3.6 billion. This is a frightening figure, the most critical among all major European soccer federations.
“In the next season and the one that just ended there were signs of small improvements, but these are events that cannot give us hope for a brighter future. Structural interventions are needed, especially on stadiums, otherwise the Italian soccer system is destined to become minor. “
The crisis in Italian soccer: “We need laws on facilities. “
“Politics has a lot to do with the world of soccer,” continued Marco Bellinazzo. “Everyone knows that serious intervention on facilities would be needed, and the European Championship on the horizon could be an opportunity. But everything is at a standstill. We need an intervention from this point of view because otherwise there is no room for improvement and work. “
Coppa Italia final, Fiorentina-Inter
According to the interviewee, the problem is also cultural: those who govern Italian soccer lack foresight and humility: they do not realize that business models have changed and that there is a need to update. “There is a lack of vision for renaissance. And there is no real will to rebuild,” the interviewee concluded with evident bitterness.
“3.6 billion in three years is a very scary figure. That’s why I say there is no vision of rebirth and reconstruction. We are last for players who grew up in the nurseries and made their debut. So there is something not working in the development of our talent. “
