MILAN. Serie A tries to make the first calculations on how much the Super League could cost in terms of lost economic revenues. According to the estimate provided to the clubs at the Lega meeting, which took place this afternoon, the losses could fluctuate between 30% and 50% of current revenues. Decrease in the value of TV rights and drop in sponsors’ remuneration: these are all rumors that can bring down the turnover of the Italian league, as well as of the other main European national tournaments.
This first evaluation has helped to ignite the already quite inflamed minds in front of this epochal turning point. On the dock Juventus, Inter and Milan, a few hours after the announcement of their presence among the 12 founders of the ‘great schism’ of world football. Initially it seemed that Juventus and Inter would not connect. Instead at 5.30 pm the Juventus president Andrea Agnelli and the two Nerazzurri CEOs Beppe Marotta and Alessandro Antonello were regularly present. AC Milan, on the other hand, was underrepresented: there was no president Paolo Scaroni, always protagonist of these maxi-operations between football and finance, but only the chief business officer Roberto Masi.
Juventus, Inter and Milan have reiterated that they do not intend to abandon the Italian championship. But obviously it was not enough to placate the spirits. The most inflamed was Urbano Cairo: “You are a guide,” he repeated to Agnelli who, faced with this offense, was about to disconnect. When the atmosphere calmed down, Agnelli tried to explain that the Super League will be a benefit for all Italian football, because it will increase revenues and therefore the related solidarity contributions for the other teams. A version that was not welcomed by other executives. Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero stressed that the economic disadvantages will prevail. Then Ferrero – together with Cairo, Genoa’s president Enrico Preziosi and Udinese’s vice president, Stefano Campoccia – asked for Marotta’s resignation as federal councilor, given that now the Nerazzurri manager would be in conflict of interest with the objectives of the FIGC policy.
At the end of the work, Cairo was even tougher: “It is an attack on the health of an association like the League – he told Ansa – if someone like Marotta does such a thing, he must resign from the FIGC immediately, and he must to be ashamed. The project will not go through, but whoever conceived it must resign for this betrayal. The same thing goes for Agnelli. It seems that the SuperLeague project was filed on January 10, so I told him during the meeting ‘how can you come here and talk about solidarity when you sabotaged the deal with the funds, already knowing that you were doing the SuperLeague? But how is it done? It is from Judas ». Only Parma asked for the expulsion of Juventus, Inter and Milan from Serie A. The other clubs recalled the content of Sunday’s joint statement with Uefa, Liga and Premier League as well as the English and Spanish Federations, according to which the exclusions from national championships will have to take place simultaneously in the three countries when the Super League really starts.
However, he holds the pact of the seven teams that hindered the operation with the CVC, Advent and Fsi funds (1.7 billion for 10% of the Serie A media company); the assignment of package 2 of 2021-24 TV rights to Sky was rejected; asked for the resignation of Paolo Dal Pino as president of the Lega. Lazio, Fiorentina and Napoli do not distance themselves despite Inter and Juventus having come out into the open on the Super League. Claudio Lotito does not give up this alliance because he knows that, if he left the blocking minority of seven clubs (essential for vetoing with a quorum of 14 votes), he would lose power. Aurelio De Laurentiis does not mind this climate of conflict with Uefa and Fifa, institutions he has never loved. And he probably hopes that Napoli will be able to enter the 20 SuperLeague teams when the participants complete each other. Verona and Atalanta are in tow of Lotito. Appointment next week with an assembly this time in presence in Milan. The issue is considered too important to be addressed only from a distance in front of computer screens. The last live meeting in Milan ended in slaps between Preziosi and Campoccia. Meanwhile, the tension has grown even stronger.