Lazio Sporting Director Igli Tare: “Clubs Like Inter, Juventus & AC Milan Have Failed Technically But Kept Alive Because They Serve The System”

Lazio Sporting Director Igli Tare feels that the biggest clubs in Italian football like Inter, AC Milan, and Juventus are only continuing on at the top because the Italian football system cannot function without them.

Speaking in a lecture, as reported by FCInterNews, Tare gave a critical perspective on the business model employed by the largest clubs in Italy.

The past several years have heralded many significant changes at the top of Italian as well as European football, and the pandemic has further cast doubt on the sustainability of the model that keeps the biggest clubs afloat financially.

The Nerazzurri are both one of Italy’s biggest clubs, and also one of the clubs to have experienced the most turmoil in certain respects, as the capacity for their current model to go on into the future has been the subject to major questions.

For his part, Biancocelesti Sporting Director Tare feels that the older model of family-owned clubs was a more sustainable system.

“There are four family-owned clubs left,” the executive said of Italian football, “Udinese, Atalanta, Lazio, and Napoli.”

“I’m more for this kind of ownership,” he continued, “the multinationals only have a commercial interest, and so the beauty of football is lost – passion, love.”

Tare suggested that “These big funds work based on algorithms, and they no longer want to know about the history of the team and the city.”

“I’m an old school fan,” he said.

Tare argued that “There is continuity missing with corporate executives in football, due to the fact that the duration of their contracts varies too much.”

“Take me, I’m one of the oldest directors in Serie A, this is my fifteenth year at Lazio,” he added.

“I’m lucky enough to work with a company with the right kind of owner.”

“Today there are clubs, even in the first tier, such as Juve, Roma, Milan, Inter, who have failed technically, but are kept alive by the fact that the system needs them,” he argued.

“It’s very important to have a long-term ownership and with the right kind of project for the good of the club.”