On a dry but hardly misunderstood note, the Prime Minister put down on paper in the afternoon all his opposition to the initiative. Phrases that have gathered almost unanimous sharing in the political and institutional world, from the government structure to the entire constitutional range of parties
Mario Draghi he said no. The project of the new futuristic European football Super League – to which the Italian Juventus, Inter and Milan, as well as twelve other teams from England and Spain would join – does not convince the Prime Minister, who today publicly rejected the idea without appeal. . In an almost a bit unusual way, it would be added, considering that until now the premier had usually limited himself to expressing his opinions in the course of official and planned interventions, as in the case of press conferences or some duly organized public outings.
This time, however, things went differently, also because – as is well known – football in Italy and in Europe is anything but a secondary issue. And so, on a dry but certainly unequivocal note, Draghi put pen to paper in the afternoon his negative opinion on the initiative: “The government is closely following the debate around the football Super League project and strongly supports the positions of the football authorities. Italian and European to preserve national competitions, merit values and the social function of sport “. Phrases that have gathered almost unanimous sharing in the political and institutional world, from the government structure to the entire constitutional range of parties.
“Never, not even in the face of economic interests, can the principles of merit, healthy competition, solidarity as well as the educational values of sport fail”, commented for example the Undersecretary for Sport Valentina Vezzali. The statements were followed by comments on the same wavelength of all the main Italian parties. Starting with Giuseppe Conte, now almost the new political leader of the cinquestelle, who in a direct Facebook used words fully in line with those of his successor: “Those who work today to carry out the Super League project and pursue an elitist logic that is independent of the quality of the game, sporty and with a spirit of solidarity, know that he will see us stubbornly against us, as football fans and as sportsmen ”.
And so did the other leaders. “Let the government intervene, this is a story that can impoverish the country”, observed the secretary of the Democratic Party Enrico Letta. “That football needs reforms, yes, there is no doubt, that there are procedures and salaries out of this world, yes, but this is not the way to change, stand up and say we have the money and we decide, I don’t like it” he echoed Matteo Salvini. Aligned as well the opposition, now represented in our country by itself Giorgia Meloni: “It is unfortunately evident that the football of the past no longer exists, as is the business that revolves around this discipline, but at least until now the sporting merit had been a starting point, not a detail. And merit is not destroyed in the name of profits ”.
Criticisms which, moreover, do not constitute an Italian exception. Everywhere you look – at the countries of origin of the teams that would join the Super League, as well as at the others left out also by decision of the main clubs (this is the case, for example, for now in France and Germany) – it is all a rage of negative comments and sometimes indignant. The same goes for the European Commission, which also expressed a negative opinion. The spokesperson Eric Mamer he stressed that “sports and competitions should be organized in such a way as to guarantee the open participation of clubs” and that “the opportunity to participate” should be guaranteed to all. Mamer himself also added that if the commission is called upon to evaluate the proposal, it will do so from a legal point of view on the basis of “the principle of competition”.
In short, if the separatist clubs decided to continue on the path of splitting, they would certainly not find broad consensus. On the contrary, the clear opposition of the politics and institutions of the various countries involved and the arrows of a very large part of public opinion and fans. A no holds barred battle that could lead to sensational decisions in the next few hours, such as the immediate exclusion from the European Cups of the teams involved, overshadowed by Jesper Moller, member of the UEFA executive and number one of the Danish Football Association.
The Super League is the result of despair. Giuliani writes