TMW
The president of the Lega Pro Matteo Marani spoke in Bologna on the occasion of the event General states of football: the white paper speaking about the need for Italian football to be at these events to discuss its future: “I think it was a good initiative for which credit should be given to the University of Bologna, all of Italian football was there. I believe that it is always useful to discuss, debate ideas given that there are no univocal and unitary positions from the beginning, but then agreements can be found, in general I believe that Italian football must stay together, it is a historical fact, also because if we can’t stay together and it’s difficult to find solutions.”
What’s in the pipeline in Serie C?
“The salary cap is one of the proposals I made at the beginning of the mandate, today we had the first council meeting in which we introduced the topic and soon we will start permanent working tables to discuss this. We would like to be able to start it from next season, we also have to model it based on the models that are around Europe, some working, some less so. In general we need to control costs because otherwise football will implode, with finances not in order you can’t play football.”
Will we see other Under23 teams?
“As regards this topic, I underline the enormous willingness that our teams have given to registering two new teams in practically two years, I know that there is interest from other clubs in wanting to join. But then there is the practical act, that is, we need a space that becomes free, a C team that does not have the requirements to register otherwise it cannot be done given that, rightly in my opinion, there is a priority for the C teams Serie D”.
How important is the word youth in this ‘white paper’?
“I think it is fundamental in many respects, they represent the future, the movement and also the desperate need that our movement has to put the talent of young people at the center. And then because in terms of sustainability there is nothing more sustainable than young people, they have no costs, if not indirect, because you grow them at home and they can generate revenue. Any football that wants to be healthy, sustainable and forward-thinking needs to have young people within it. Let me say in conclusion that in the first seven days of Serie C there is a considerable increase in our championship and this pleases us because it means that the effects of the ‘Zola reform’ are bearing their first fruits.”