The federal president Gabriele Gravina (photo by figc.it)
On the proposal of the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi, the last Council of Ministers approved a provision which extends the harmful effects of the repeal of the sporting restriction for memberships signed before the entry into force of the reform until 30 June 2025 Spadafora, i.e. 1 July 2023. The FIGC is satisfied and, in the name of its president Gabriele Gravina, explains: «The protection of nurseries is one of the FIGC’s priorities because they represent a fundamental asset for the development of the entire Italian football movement. For this reason I thank the entire Government and Minister Abodi, as well as all the political forces that have proven sensitive to the topic, for having accepted the appeal that I launched no later than a week ago in the Commission of the Chamber of Deputies on the matter to the request for a one-year extension on the abolition of the so-called sporting restriction, a fundamental provision that allows clubs that believe in youth sectors to have the time necessary to reorganize their work with a view to valorising young people”.
This last-minute move, applauded not only by the FIGC but also by the Serie A and B Leagues and by the Italian Swimming Federation, makes the work of many clubs easier, including Genoa, which make their youth system a jewel in the crown, as well as one of the main resources for structuring the future of the club.
The sporting bond is a legal institution that binds a young athlete to the first club that registered him for a period established by the relevant Federation, forcing him to carry out activities for the same. The club demands financial compensation to release him. The current text of the reform provides for an annual duration with automatic renewal and with the right of withdrawal for the athlete which can be activated at any time, tempered by a technical training bonus for the company. Considered by some sports entities – basketball, volleyball and some football instances – as a limitation on the contractual freedom of the athlete, the Spadafora reform wanted to eliminate it as early as 1 July 2023, a deadline then extended to 1 July 2024 (for memberships that constituted renewals, without interruption) and, as a third and final postponement, to 1 July 2025.
The fate of the restriction will be decided in twelve months and a reversal of the legal scenario compared to the one currently proposed but not yet entered into force cannot be ruled out. We must ask ourselves whether, having postponed its implementation three times, such a far-reaching reform rule is really useful to the sports movement when, instead, it is no longer appropriate to provide for a differentiated implementation that takes into account the peculiarities of each competitive discipline.
