“We risk making a global fool.” Giovanni Malagò president of CONI, spoke out straight on the latest bugaboo for Italian sport. All united – if this is really the case we will understand today, in the emergency council convened by the federal president Gabriele Gravina – against the government and the Ministry of Sport led by Andrea Abodi. Starting Friday, when the Republic has made the intentions of the executive known, the theme is only one: the creation of a new government agency, called “Agency for the economic and financial supervision of professional sports clubs”, which controls the accounts of sport, in particular basketball and soccer. In the latter case, the new independent authority would take the place of CoViSoC, an autonomous body but part of the football federation.
What are you talking about. As Abodi himself specified, the legislative process, which should lead to a decree law – a legislative act with characteristics of necessity and urgency, immediately executive – is still underway. The approval of the document should have taken place today, but it was moved to next week to allow the executive to make some changes and, assures Abodi, what is being discussed at the moment is only a draft. At present, the main purpose of the new agency would be to replace the CoViSoC (Supervision Commission on Professional Football Clubs), which since the 1980s has monitored the economic-financial situation of football clubs registered in the championships organized by the FIGC. In this way, and at the expense of the leagues which would have to pay 2.5 million euros a year to support it, this new entity could in fact have the last word regarding the clubs’ registrations for the championships. In this regard, during his interview, Malagò raised “serious doubts” about the possibility that a government agency with similar tasks and powers could be accepted by UEFA and FIFA. This is a doubt also shared by many professionals, also in consideration of what is happening in Spain.
The Spanish case it is actually different, at least from what is currently known about this draft, from the potential Italian situation. The underlying principle, however, is the same: the sports system, starting from the International Olympic Committee, does not tolerate political interference in matters falling within the competence of the sports authorities. This was precisely the accusation launched by FIFA and UEFA, with a joint letter signed by their respective general secretaries, to José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, President of the Superior Council of Sport and Secretary of State for Sport. In essence, the Iberian counterpart of Abodi. In what was effectively an ultimatum, the world and European confederations contested the creation of the “Comisión de Supervisión, Normalización y Representación”, which essentially allowed the Spanish government to place the RFEF, the Madrid Football Federation, under commissionership. Citing violations of articles 14 (paragraph 1, letter i) and 19 of the FIFA Statutes as well as article 7 bis (paragraph 2) of the UEFA Statutes, the Spanish government was asked to restore the autonomy of the Football Federation, under penalty of very heavy sanctions . In particular, Spain risks exclusion from the European Championships, from the organization of the 2030 World Cup and the exclusion of all its clubs from any type of UEFA competition. A scenario that is unlikely to materialise, and which is part of not only the delicate moment within the Spanish football federation (former president Rubiales resigned after the controversy following the kiss with the captain of the women’s national team, and his successor Rocha is under investigation for corruption), but also in the tense relations between UEFA itself and the two top Spanish clubs.
The Italian case, it was said, has more nuanced contours. The government has no intention of putting the FIGC under commissionership and the interference is not as obvious, but the fear – raised by an authoritative source such as Malagò himself – is that in essence it could be considered much more similar than it actually is. At that point, the “threats” of the international sporting system could be the same as those already formulated for Spain, with the government backtracking becoming inevitable.