Napoli's president and owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis had some strong and important words at the 'The Business of Football Summit 2024' currently taking place in London.
He speaks about the football he sees, the one that has lost the interest of the youngest, the one imprisoned by institutions, the one that "is sick mainly because its economy is sick."
"Football is an industry enslaved by some institutions that, having to put on the clothes of command, have limited its development. Football thus found itself increasingly indebted and enslaved by piracy that it has never been able to dominate. It is sick mainly because its economy is sick, because clubs that do not have the economic capacity to compete enroll in the championships: it means that existing competitions do not offer sufficient revenues, despite the figures UEFA reels out for its new cups. Football thus is not sustainable and is played too much. And when you play too much, you end up inflating the public's interest."
On how to help football
"It must be free for everyone. If you want to regain an audience, you have to broadcast it on TV for free. And as an entrepreneur, you have to be the one who can gather huge advertising. And it also matters how you show football. Not only in stadiums, which in Italy are dilapidated and not comfortable for the public. I also talk about TV: it is not possible that in Formula 1 the images almost make me believe I am in the driver's seat and in football it is not like that. I would like to choose my angles, and I always say that the example of how to broadcast a match is the World Cup final between Argentina and France. But football has also aged as a game: we should sit down at a table and reflect, but ours is a big circus where you can't stop to think and therefore you can't rebel."
De Laurentiis targets two categories of the football family: agents and referees.
"They are a cancer of football. The refereeing class should depend on the clubs, with which they should dialogue so that they are not a caste but collaborators. And it is not acceptable for a referee to expel a coach. Football seems like a joke because of this."
The president of Napoli also talks about the Super League, also recalling that ten years ago he had proposed a sort of European club championship complementary or different from the Champions League: "Teams would participate based on their results in their own leagues. I will be in favour of the Super League only if it is able to be democratic, only if entry is based on merit and not pedigree. They have promised to be operational by 2025. Time will tell."
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