A tense day for Italian football management after Italy's defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi bluntly expressed his views.
Abodi said: "I feel regretful when I think about the fact that an entire generation of young people has not yet experienced the joy of watching the national team compete in the World Cup. I thank the team and its coach for their efforts last night, but everyone knows that Italian football needs to be rebuilt, and this process must start with the renewal of the leadership of the Italian Football Federation."
"Over the years, the government has shown its support for the entire Italian sports industry with practical actions. Our athletes have brought us great joy in many projects, and I think that it is inappropriate to evade one's own responsibility by blaming relevant institutions for inaction and belittling the importance and professional standards of other sports projects, after failing to qualify for the World Cup three times in a row."
Would reducing foreign players to give local players more opportunities be the solution? That night, Abodi also responded to reporters' questions about the future direction: "This is exactly what we are trying to achieve. We must change this model, which not only prevents us from qualifying for the World Cup for the third time in a row, but also fails to allow Italian football talents, especially young talents, to develop."
"We can still cultivate talents in the U19 age group, but the U21 team has missed the Olympic Games for four consecutive sessions. This is enough to prove that this training model has failed when players grow up and compete with foreign players."
"We will not be marginalized. There are teams that win the youth league, but there is not a single Italian player on the field... We must learn from this third World Cup exit, and I think that with the help of Europe, we can guarantee the number of Italian players on the field."
"I propose that after the leadership of the Football Association is replaced, we should immediately discuss solutions with all parties to promote progress in this direction."
Guraysahaa
14
does Italian league has more foreigners than the English league. the problem is not the foreigners but Italian academies are not producing enough talent to compete.
lakbcdeptu
11
only two big countries are underachieving in world football now. England and Italy! and the two of them have the same problem. most of their stars are playing in their native league! playing abroad is like spying on those countries n finding their weakness to know how best to hurt them wen u meet. instead of Italy 🇮🇹 to find more ways to push their players abroad, they're planning on how to "ground" them at home! check all the countries that are doing well. their players are plying their trade outside the country! Italy should work more on exporting their stars instead of domesticating them!