Tony 29
I will try to address your concerns.
Currently Italian football is going through several problems. Let's briefly talk about them.
1)
Calciopoli- The league is still reeling from the scandal of last summer. As you correctly point out Zambo and Canna left because of Juve's relegation, not because of any desire to leave Serie A. However, Calciopoli had a big impact on Italian football's image and impudently mocked the claim that Italians and Italian football lovers love to make: "Serie A is the best league in the world". What the scandal did bring out in the open that matches were being meddled with or fixed, and surely as a player, you must have felt cheated and disgusted.
Calciopoli also had a huge financial impact on Serie A's income. Juve's relegation meant a drop in income for Serie A, and three majore clubs started the season with a points handicap. A level playing field is the minimum any sport should strive to uphold ; Calciopoli, let's say, made the playing field quite bumpy.
2)
Italian teams seem to bank on foreign talent before their own- This seems a pathetic situation for me. Napoli should have gone for Bianchi, rather than banking on a relatively obscure talent from Argentina. Similarly, Milan are willing to go--if reports are to be believed--after Baptista, but not Quagliarella or Giuseppe Rossi. Even allowing for all the arguments about the Brazilian's versatility, can anyone say unreservedly that there are not better Italian options out there? Btw these Italian options would be better and cheaper!
The biggest culprits here are our imbecilic cross-city cousins.
Can anyone tell me what Inter are good for? Their team is almost entirely made up of foreigners, and they managed to sell a World Cup icon! Why not buy Italian talent? Why give Recoba a prolonged, lucrative contract? I mean Inter only have Materazzi and Toldo!!! This is a big problem.
And we are not innocent in all of this either. Why not move for Italian goalkeepers, who are the best in the world IMO? Instead of renewing contracts of a calamitous specimen such as Dida (please don't crucify me), why not AT LEAST safeguard the future with Amelia...De Sanctis...or keep Abbiati? Why?
3)
TV rights- A few posts ago I posted that it was essential to have central marketing of TV rights, if the Italian game is to survive and flourish in the long term. It was received with only tepid approval at best. I have been doing a lot of research on this, and I have discovered some interesting facts.
TV rights for the whole of Serie A come are almost 600 million POUNDS. That's right 600! That means that Italy would enjoy a higher amount TV income than even England did in their FIRST go at collective TV rights. The government's proposal to divide up the goods was as follows:
1) 300 million pounds divided equally between the 20 teams.
2) The other 300 million pounds was to be divided according to the fanbase and final positioning of each team. Makes sense. I mean why should Catania enjoy the same TV income as Juventus. After all Juve has a much larger fanbase. A very small portion of this 300 million was to be devoted for grassroots development of the game.
So according to this proposal, every club in Serie A would be guaranteed 15 million pounds (for some clubs more than 10 times of what they get), while the big clubs would obviously get less than what they get now, but probably more than the top clubs in England (England, according to what I have read, is even more egalitarian in their distribution).
I was having a discussion with Kris about TV rights, and I have to apologize to him/her because I thought Livorno and Catania were spending because TV rights would come into effect next season. They don't. They come into effect in 2010.
Anyway, all the big clubs--Napoli, Juve, Milan, Inter, Roma, Lazio and probably Fiorentina when they decide to vote and not abstain--rejected the proposal.
They had good reason to because a significant chunk of Italians support one of the big 3 clubs, so why should these clubs share so much of the pie with the likes of Empoli?
But whatever happened to the big picture? Where is the solidarity? Where is the farsightedness? I mean the big 3 will always have money, but the likes of Catania and Reggina deserve a shot at building competitive squads and pay them more than peanuts.
What the TV rights acrimony illustrates is two things: 1) Italian clubs refuse to show solidarity 2) the top 3 have a very unhealthy revenue portfolio, which relies on TV rights for 60% of its total.
If the TV rights thing is not passed, OR another incoming government changes it back to exclusive TV rights, then I fear the smaller clubs will not be able to purchase players without the help of rich patrons. And not all clubs have that.
This is a great time for Italian clubs to boost their merchandising sales, something in which they're lacking behind their Spanish and English counterparts. Oh btw, the English model is the way to go, not the Spanish one, where TV rights are negotiated for individually. There too, you now see that Deportivo or Mallorca can barely spend any money on the market. However, the only saving grace there is that there the clubs own their stadiums and are a little ahead of Italy in terms of merchandising.
Alongside, TV rights, the Italian govt. should also really quickly solve the case of stadium ownership in Italy. Currently the city councils own the stadiums, so the clubs not only miss out on some revenue, but also the stadiums are poorly maintained. 1990 was the last time they were renovated!
Some words of hope
We have to remember that Toni, Lucarelli, and Grosso are all 30 or above. Grosso turns 30 in Nov I think. The likes of Pelle moving to AZ is not symptomatic of an exodus because he is moving from Lecce. Obviously AZ have more money than Lecce. The Dutch, French, and German leagues make less than Italy, and their teams are not as rich (in general). However, if a player like Pelle becomes available the TOP club from the Netherlands will obviously have more money than the BOTTOM club from Italy.
Bianchi etc. have left but Tavano and Miccoli have also returned. The football market is a European one, and if a current club does not have room for a player or can't accommodate him for some other reason, then other options become attractive. I really doubt if someone like Sampdoria really showed serious interest for Pelle, the player would pick AZ.
This is from uefa.com:
"Galliani's claim was supported by recent research from Ernst & Young published in the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. According to their research a team with 24.7 players - 11.1 of them foreigners - everyone earning €500,000 per year would cost €24.8m in Italy, €23.09m in England, €22.5m in Germany and only €19.8m in Spain. The big difference with Spain is down to tax breaks for foreigners, making Spain a lucrative haven for today’s footballers.
Positive outlook
That is not to say the short-term future of Italian football is bleak. The return to Serie A of traditional, wealthy and well-supported teams such as Juventus, SSC Napoli and Genoa CFC 1893 will generate new income and interest. Serie A will also be represented by the ten biggest cities in the country – with the exception of Bologna. Some of the nation’s biggest derbies are back on the fixture list and according to Deloitte, income from television rights, attendance and merchandising will increase by €360m next season. It may take some for Serie A to reestablish itself as THE destination for the world’s best footballers, but it is not a bad start."
Italy is still amongst the top 3 best leagues. They should work together to make sure they don't slip out of that ranking and to return to being the best again.
---Hasan (end of rant)