Serie A League President Ezio Simonelli spoke at the RCS Sports Industry Forum, where he talked about the plight of Italian football.
The difficulties of Italian football?
Perhaps today's young people are no longer as hungry as past champions. At the age of 16, they are treated as geniuses, receiving money and attention, and sometimes agents operate in improper ways, which makes them prone to losing motivation.
Our coaches are very excellent, but many of them, when coaching youth teams, focus too much on results in order to gain attention and be promoted to the first team. As a result, tactics are introduced too early, neglecting the cultivation of basic skills.
Ultimately, we end up with players who are physically strong but unable to cross or shoot. I believe that the development paths of coaches should be completely separated: coaches involved in youth development should be educators, not candidates for first-team coaches. I would abolish youth leagues and let them play for learning, not for victory.
Are there too many competitions now?
The schedule is too packed, with the number of FIFA and UEFA matches constantly increasing. In the past 21 years, the number of 20 teams in Serie A has remained unchanged, while everything else has increased. The Champions League, once an exclusive event for champions, has now become a competition within a competition. However, this is not Serie A's responsibility.
The Dilemma of Television Broadcasting Rights?
I'm worried that we've reached our peak. Investors are shifting their budgets towards major international events. Our league remains competitive, with four different champions in the past six years, so I'm more concerned about the decline of international broadcast rights than domestic ones. But retaining talent is difficult: when a young player emerges, like Leone from Parma, offers from England are often hard to resist.
Possibility of national team training camp?
Serie A League will do everything possible to support the Italian Football Federation and the national team, because if Italy can qualify for the World Cup, it will be a source of pride for everyone. President Gravina has already put forward the need for training camps, and I believe the clubs will be more than willing to cooperate.
However, we also need to face the contracts signed with broadcasters, whether it's the Italy Cup or the league, so this doesn't solely depend on Serie A's wishes. What we can do is adjust the match times as much as possible to allow players to support the national team coach as early as possible.