Interview granted to the newspaper ‘La Stampa’ by the Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi: “After the Berlin defeat, it seems to me that the first move was to call elections for November 4: by reflection I meant something completely different”, said Abodi who did not spare criticism of the number one of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina. The Mulè amendment was approved after a significant reformulation that, in fact, silenced the opponents: establishing, in the autonomy of the FIGC, that the Serie A League be recognized with a political weight and representation greater than the current 12 percent and the three members within the federal council is to affirm a criterion of fairness and common sense. It has been discussed for fifteen years, discussing, without arriving at a conclusion, a recognition for those who contribute to the well-being of the rest of the system with 130 million euros per year of mutuality, paying the State 1 billion and 200 million euros in taxes, of which a third go back to sport through public funding”.
Then in another passage he added: “The president of the Football Federation Gravina said that there is time up to 60 days before to draw conclusions, but, as I was saying, at the first Federal Council after the elimination in the round of 16 at Euro 2024 I would have expected other issues, other contents and also a different way of discussing things at the centre of the pitch. If this is the restart of football, we are not there…”
And on the letter from UEFA and FIFA that threatened the exclusion of Italian clubs, these are Abodi’s words: “It was a letter that had been largely overtaken by events, starting with the reformulation of the amendment, of which UEFA had been made aware. In Berlin I had a frank and calm discussion with UEFA President Ceferin: he expressed his critical issues to me, I explained our point of view. It was a useful meeting.”