Giovanni Malago, the president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), has shared his view that all the relevant parties should have met at the same time and not left until an agreement was reached with regard to the possible resumption of the 2019/20 season.
Football at all levels in Italy has been on hold for around a month now due to the ongoing global Coronavirus pandemic and Malago believes there is currently lots of confusion and division.
“An extremely confused and highly divisive debate is being generated and it can’t lead to anything good,” he began an interview with Rome based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, which appeared in today’s print edition of the paper.
“Without wishing for controversy, for heaven’s sake, I would have locked FIGC, the Lega A, the Players’ Association, the coaches, TV and the international organisations, FIFA and UEFA, in a room and not let the out until they had produced a common path.
“The same goes for Serie B and Lega Pro. What are you willing to leave on the table if the season doesn’t end? And what about television companies, the federation, footballers, FIFA and UEFA? How much will you contribute?
He then went on to share his belief that a clear plan is currently missing at the moment although he understands that it is a difficult situation at the moment.
“We proceed by sight, by hypothesis, with a conflict that damages any planning. I speak to Gravina every day, I read his interview with La Repubblica with great attention. I understand the difficulties at the moment, and I understand that he wants to complete the season.
“Talking about July, August, September, October even the next Serie A divided into two groups with the play-offs. What’s missing is a precise, clear, practicable and convincing plan.
“Logistics, transportation. There’s only talk about cuts in player salaries. They have started from the end, or almost, of agreements on the high seas and now of a medical protocol that will have to be examined by the ISS [The Italian National Institute of Health].
Malago then went on to share his hope to see the Italian government give teams the green light to return to training as soon as possible.
“The resumption of activity. First, we must resume training. I hope that the government will authorise it as soon as possible. I hoped it could already start after Easter, then on April 27, but they agreed that the right date is May 4.
“It is needless to underline the essential and important respect for the parameters indicated by doctors, access, distances and more.
“We need to restart the athlete’s machine, which can’t stand still for too long. Then it’s about the progress of the matches. It seems to me that it was clear enough when I listed the points of confusion that characterised the month of March and these first days of April.
He concluded the interview: “There are too many diverging interests at stake, those who are afraid of relegation, losing a mountain of money. We are people of the world, it’s understandable, it’s human.”
