Aurelio De Laurentiis, Chairman of the Napoli, spoke to the microphones of radio 24 to talk first of all about Calcium and of the call for the tv rights of Serie A, also touching on topics such as the European football, UEFA , Superalloy.
"Melandri destroyed first the cinema and then football"
"The Melandri She destroyed cinema first, and then football. No one has ever had the courage to say how Melandri dared to reduce football's productivity and limit our ability to manage the business. There shouldn't be any law that limits me; it's unconstitutional."
"UEFA? Football has never reinvented itself over the years."
Il president of the Napoli he lets off steam: "Unfortunately, the concept of football is outdated, here in Europe and in South America, while the United States is a step ahead. They often call me a visionary, but it makes me laugh, because I see so many people still struggling in a state of servitude to the past, dominated by the Italian Football Federation, UEFA, and FIFA."
And yet: "We're always slaves to the old because we know it and it's easy to ride. The future is uncertain and difficult, and if you're just a 'taker' and not an entrepreneur, you prefer to stay in the past. We're all responsible for driving young people away from football."
"Football has never reinvented itself. Things have changed over the years, but there's never been a complete acceleration. If the NBA bosses are raking in millions in revenue, there must be a reason. We're still in the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Conference, but who cares about spending money to get their team to play in the Conference?"
"The problem is that we never focus on the economics of football - continues De Laurentiis -. Merit and sportsmanship are fine, but then you have to reconcile them with the demands of a market. If there's no revenue to invest, it means this football doesn't work and those in charge aren't interested."
"European cups need to be renewed, but the Super League isn't working."
The obvious reference is to the Superalloy: "I told Agnelli it wasn't right because he wanted to do it for an elite group. I say it's wrong to allow UEFA to collect millions without knowing what to do with them. So let's put the money on the table and organize a tournament in which the top six teams from a major league and the top team from a minor league play against everyone, one-off matches."
"Then it becomes a championship that can be played every day and brings in money. In '86, we had 16 teams in Serie A; today we have 20. Some of my colleagues think that if we reduced the number of teams, we'd get less money, but that's bullshit because some games don't interest anyone.", he concludes.
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Comments (1)
The president is absolutely right, he is the only one responsible.