Inter CEO Beppe Marotta spoke about the League’s decision to postpone tonight’s Derby d’Italia against Juventus in an interview in today’s paper edition of the Rome based newspaper Corriere dello Sport.
First, the Nerazzurri CEO touched on if the postponement of tonight’s game was a defeat for the Milanese side.
“It’s not a defeat for Inter. It’s a defeat for the football system that had to manage this situation better.”
Marotta explained what he meant.
“It cannot be said on Tuesday that it is essential to play behind closed doors, with guidelines from the Government, send a statement on Thursday in which 5 games are arranged without an audience and then postpone all on Saturday, a few hours before the start of the games. If a line has been decided, it has to be followed.”
The 62-year-old Italian suggested that the decision risks the regularity of the league.
“Of course. My thoughts are not a matter of principle, unfortunately we are facing a scenario that is no longer rational, a totally unbalanced situation from a competitive point of view. Inter and Sassuolo, just to give two examples, haven’t played for two game days, while other teams have played all their matches. Does that seem normal to you?”
He revealed how he reacted when he heard the news that the games had been postponed.
“Disbelief. There was time to evaluate and decide beforehand, without it getting so close to the games. A decision at the last moment was the thing to avoid because of the image you give of our movement.”
Marotta understood why some Inter fans were angry about the postponement.
“I totally understand and agree with them.”
The Nerazzurri CEO didn’t think that the depth in the squad was the most important thing when it came to the late games in the season.
“It’s not a question of number of players, but of stress. That should be taken into account because the players are not robots.”
He spoke about the fact that if Inter reach the Coppa Italia final and Europa League final then there is no available date to play against Sampdoria.
“I can’t imagine it either. The reality is that if Inter always wins, there isn’t a date.”
Finally, Marotta confirmed that the Milanese club wouldn’t ignore the Europa League to focus on the league.
“Nonsense. Whoever says that doesn’t know how we work here at Inter. The Europa League is an important competition for us, and we won’t give up anything.”
