Sport: Malagò, ‘with the government reform we risk making a global fool’
“I say this very frankly, I have serious doubts that this speech can be accepted by international sports bodies. Therefore, at the very least, this must be verified before taking any position on a regulatory level. Otherwise we risk making a global fool and, unfortunately, Italian governments are not new to similar situations”. president of CONI, Giovanni Malagòon the government’s plan to audit the sport’s accounts with one agency.
“In the past, positions have been held that they were then forced to change. We’ve been through this before.” The timing of the matter is “another issue that cuts across all other reasoning. And it is another problem. On May 6th we are in the midst of registering for the championships. Covisoc produces its activity, the documentation must be produced by May 31st, because then by June 30th Covisoc must manage its dynamics”. How do you explain this rush? “Honestly, I can’t explain it. As soon as a decree law is voted on, it is immediately enforceable. If it passes, between now and May 31st this agency should make appointments, choose the figures and be immediately operational.”
Sport: Abodi, ‘non-formal language from Malagò’
The document on financial controls on football and sport Giovani Malagò “received it from the federal president, a non-definitive text. I also try to pay attention to the form, but the language used by the president of Coni does not seem to me to be the most formal taking into account the circumstances”. The minister for sport and for the young Andrea Abodi. “We are all serving the general interest. This has led the institutions to pose the problem of a third, independent, authoritative body. Not because Covisoc isn’t, but because it is not a third party, it is within the federal perimeter.”
Football: Abodi, ‘Lega A and FIGC think about a more competitive Serie A’
League A-FIGC tensions after the government’s plan to establish an agency to control accounts in football and sport: “I hope that the right tones are adopted and that there is a general interest in an increasingly competitive Serie A”. The minister for sport and youth Andrea Abodi says this on Radio Anch’io Sport on Rai Radio 1. “A reform has not yet been achieved, but I hope it will happen in the coming months, without particular interests and with the right institutional education”.
Abodi, ‘how much agitation for financial controls, third party guarantee agency’
“Are the Covisoc controls not so reliable? Let’s say that we always have room for improvement. The draft is not only related to this issue, it is the first decree after twenty years dedicated only to sport and has an urgent nature. I have seen a lot of agitation on the topic and also some inaccuracies regarding the attack on autonomy. I would have liked the same excitement to manifest itself when tax debts of professional A, B and C club teams amounting to over 100 million were written off in the last two years alone. Evidently the controls did not allow us to stop some situations or in any case to alert us to some critical situations. Furthermore, it is a draft subject to further contributions, I hope today is a favorable one. The draft was released unduly, incorrectly and therefore a non-definitive reading was given to a non-definitive text. Sometimes all you need is a bit of common sense and tranquility”. This is what the Minister for Sport and Youth Andrea Abodi spoke to Radio Anch’io Sport on Rai Radio 1 regarding the possibility of building a government agency for economic and financial supervision of professional sports clubs.
“I wonder why there is so much agitation, we are simply talking about financial controls, which should be almost an indifferent factor. They must be done well and possibly also independently and thirdly. Nothing is touched regarding the definition of the criteria by the Football Federation, nothing is touched for the attribution of licenses for participation in the championships. I would like to know where the attack on the autonomy of sport is.”
UEFA and FIFA could intervene: “Sporting autonomy is not affected in the slightest here. Financial controls are simply being attributed to a third party, which do not fall within the sporting choices which are the absolute prerogative of the Football Federation”. Would the new agency cost two and a half million a year, all paid by the clubs? “This is also an issue we are talking about. In the context of a world that has a financial turnover of several billions, two and a half million would be an investment in security and impartiality which is especially needed by those clubs that pay regularly and that they ask that the same rules be respected by everyone, also to guarantee fair competition”.
Changes to the text: “The text is subject to further checks, but cannot be distorted, it will be integrated and enriched with content. I would like the decision to be taken because I believe it is indispensable, our system needs it and public opinion also asks us for it.” Appointment of two soldiers within the Coni Board, is it true? “Parliament has taken action for a representation of military sports bodies and civil state bodies within the statutory bodies of CONI. If they are talking about it, it doesn’t seem like an invasion of the field to me. It seems to me to be a state-funded representation of a sporting world within the sporting system.”
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