AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has addressed the Senate Commission regarding the steps that Serie A must take in order to move forward as a league.
Scaroni has often gone public with his thoughts about how Italian football must modernise itself when it comes to crucial issues such as the construction of new stadiums, the management of TV rights and the way the league is represented on the European stage.
One issue that he has fought for is the Growth Decree, which was abolished by the government a few months ago. It means that players arriving from abroad are no longer entitled to tax benefits, putting Serie A at a competitive disadvantage, something we have analysed in depth.
As Calcio e Finanza write, Scaroni spoke to the Senate Commission at the ‘Prospects for the reform of Italian football’ panel and he put forward a number of ideas that he believes will help calcio moving forward.
“We need to solve the betting problem. It makes no sense for the world to bet on football and we have no benefit. It was the Italian parliament in the past that prevented us from participating in these revenues and this parliament can change this senseless policy,” Scaroni began in his speech.
|Something has been done about piracy, and for this I thank you. But more can be done. We need to ban it from our television rights Tax benefits for inpatriates have been eliminated [the Growth Decree], this has caused us colossal damage.
“Incomprehensible rule, given that the only benefit that Italian football had was the possibility of attracting world talent, and it was eliminated. I hope it will be restored.
“Legislative measures on stadiums can help, even if I’m a bit skeptical given that we live in a country where minorities, even tiny but noisy ones, are capable of blocking everything. However, there remain constraints for not doing.
“The fact that in the FIGC, Serie A, which pays the bill for everything and everyone, counts for very little, is first of all wrong and then leads to friction between us and the federation.
“To change all this we need parliamentary initiatives otherwise nothing will change. Serie A is under represented, while all those who are the beneficiaries of our money are more represented.
“Furthermore, it is impossible for the Lega to represent the six to eight biggest clubs abroad, and not only. Thinking that we can reform ourselves within the Lega is completely illusory with the governance we have.”