Italian lawyer Pierfilippo Capello, son of former AC Milan coach Fabio Capello, discussed the current situation in Italian football and the Coronavirus emergency in an interview in today’s paper edition of the Rome based newspaper Corriere dello Sport.
First, Capello tried to simplify the current issues regarding this season.
“Let’s just take the question of players’ contracts, first of all you have to understand that you can’t just refer to the millionaires in Serie A, but all those who may be struggling to make ends meet in Serie C or lower leagues are involved.
“It is necessary to create a table with all the components involved, leagues and unions. But it is also essential that the highest bodies then intervene to create a common line, not only in Italy. So, I’m thinking of UEFA, it would be even better that FIFA intervene. So, simplifying this situation is very complicated. And it might not even be enough.”
He discussed what he meant by it not being enough and the overall impact of the Coronavirus on sport.
“In the sense that this all refers to the context of football, sport if you will. But even if a common decision were to be reached on how to extend the season, with derogation on current contracts and delays on those that should come into force from July, it would be enough for a single member to send the system into disarray.
“Because if a player or a coach, who has his contract expiring already had an agreement with another club as of July and does not want to continue in the current club, it would be really difficult to prevent him from joining them. That is, he could resort to ordinary justice with the concrete possibility that a judge could prove him right. But that of the members, in some ways, is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Finally, Capello spoke about the importance of making good decisions during this period, considering the overall value of the football industry.
“At this moment in history it’s easy to think that this is the case, but we shouldn’t forget that football is an economic sector that moves billions of euros. There is much more at stake. The issue of salaries is the easiest one to talk about, but then there are also the contracts linked to sponsors that can blow up millionaire agreements that companies rely on.”
Serie A, like many other leagues around Europe, has been postponed until further notice due to the Coronavirus. In order to allow the leagues to finish with regularity, UEFA agreed to push back Euro 2020 to next summer instead, freeing up June and July in the calendars.
However, playing in this period still relies on the current health situation and whether it is safe to restart football.
