At the end of the Federal Council, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina spoke at a press conference. These were his words:
“At the beginning of the Federal Council, we remembered Pope Francis for his closeness to the world of sports and football in particular. His wonderful welcome and blessing during a private audience, together with some colleagues from foreign federations who stayed on after the Elective Assembly on February 3rd, was a further demonstration of affection toward the world of football."
We remembered him as a man who was guiding with us an extraordinary event that was to culminate on June 14th and 15th in St. Peter’s Square, namely the 'Jubilee – Pelota de Trapo'. We will treasure his teachings — for the world of football, he will be an important point of reference.
Today we had to approve the 2024 budget, a positive budget from which significant commercial activity emerged. It is a historic record for the Federation in terms of output and is the result of cross-sector planning, which shows how the maximization of sporting results is not always linked to the development of a Federation. The planning carried out by the various departments of the Federation, all the way to the administrative section, manages to handle the resources produced in the best way, and this is a tangible sign of a modern Federation attentive to development. It will allow us to finance the Federation’s activities mainly on a social level, with the development of two fundamental assets such as youth sectors and infrastructure.”
President Gravina then highlighted some changes to the rules regarding club registration and ownership transfers:
“Ownership transfers without guarantees will no longer be allowed. All debts accumulated up to that date must be covered, and guarantees must be provided through sureties for the remaining amount until the end of the season. There will also be particular attention to competitive balance: if the liquidity index of 0.8 is not met, the surety in Serie C will be raised from 350,000 to 700,000 euros. Article 137 has been modified: we have introduced rehabilitative activity — once a suspension exceeds four months or eight matchdays, half of the time must be dedicated to rehabilitative activities."
Gravina concluded:
"Today, we have established a development lab for a series of countermeasures to curb violence against referees, an increasingly critical and unacceptable issue. It is a systemic issue, no longer just a refereeing one. This body will be chaired by Paolo Contis, together with former AIA president Carlo Pacifici.”
