Serie A is on the brink of financial ruin, according to Inter Milan CEO Giuseppe Marotta. The incumbent Italian champion is calling for more support from the state and the opening of stadiums, which would help the clubs cope financially with the coronavirus crisis.
“Serie A and all Italian football are on the brink of financial ruin. The government and political institutions can no longer ignore it,” Marotta said in an interview with the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
“There were already problems before the pandemic, but now we are directly above the abyss. All those years, football in Italy has had zero support,” said a former Juventus official.
Italy, like most of Europe, is currently facing the coronavirus variant of omicron and is reporting record numbers of those infected. On Tuesday, 187,000 positive tests were added to the Apennine Peninsula.
Serie A postponed some matches due to the contagion in the teams and only a limited number of spectators could enter the galleries during the season. At present, the maximum capacity is five thousand people per match, which has a negative impact on clubs’ admission fees.
“They want to return to full stadiums in France, just as they do in England. Does it make any sense for us to resist?” said Marott, who is annoyed that the state does not support football as much as other industries. “Football is considered to be the entertainment of the rich and the stupid, who spend money for pleasure. But professional football is a business like any other,” added.
