While the top priority remains public health, the show must still go on. How is football being organized, one of the priorities of Italians even in times of coronavirus emergency and an industry that is worth millions of euros for every game played, between TV rights, subscriptions and ticket sales? The situation between referrals and refunds is a bit confusingLet's try to clarify.
Meanwhile, there are four matches from the last round of Serie A to recover: Atalanta-Sassuolo, Turin-Parma, Verona-Cagliari and above all Inter-Sampdoria, with the Nerazzurri having the largest calendar, as they are still involved in both the Italian Cup and the Europa League. For the first three, the recovery will be played by March, while for Inter it could even be postponed to May, but no later than the 24th: in fact, all competitions must be completed by that date, given that the European Championship and the opening match begin in June among other things it will be played in Italy, in Rome.
Speaking of Inter, Antonio Conte's men are also busy tomorrow in the Europa League against Ludogorets, at the San Siro: the match, as per the Decree of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, it will be held behind closed doors as Milan is located in one of the red areas (together with Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont, and as regards sporting events also Friuli and Liguria). The Nerazzurri club has already ordered the refund of the ticket to the 30.000 fans who had bought one.
Also by virtue of the same decree, which according to the words of the undersecretary Vincenzo Spadafora should expire on Sunday 1st March and therefore only affect the matches of the next round of Serie A, will also be played behind closed doors Udinese-Fiorentina (Saturday), Milan-Genoa, Sassuolo-Brescia, Parma-Spal and especially Juventus-Inter (Sunday). Atalanta and Bologna fans will not be prevented from following away teams (Lecce and Roma). The speech for Sampdoria-Verona to be defined, scheduled for Monday 2 March and therefore in theory not affected by the provision.
The most delicate matter is that of the very partisan Juventus-Inter championship. Meanwhile, for ticket refunds: the policy of the black and white club is particularly restrictive and does not provide for reimbursement in such cases. Milan, on the other hand, has already started the refund process (also for season-ticket holders, returning one-nineteenth of the season ticket fee), and compensation is also envisaged for spectators of the other matches behind closed doors, i.e. Udinese (sub-ticket-holders only), Parma and Sassuolo, because the internal regulation provided for it regardless.
On the other hand, the policy of 8 other Serie A teams is similar to that of Juventus, however not affected - unless there are different developments - by the closed-door provision. However, the problem for Juve-Inter is, in addition to the importance of the match, the economic significance: for the big match Allianz was expected to be sold out, with a collection close to 5 million and coupons purchased at particularly high prices, from 70 to 300 euros.
If it is true that Juventus, on the other hand, will have to give up all related income (sponsors, merchandising, museum, etc.), it is also true that the question has not escaped even theAntitrust, which in fact has launched a preliminary investigation against Juve and the other 8 clubs that do not provide for refunds. It is not said that, given the exceptional nature of the situation, the Juventus club will not decide in the end to proceed with the refund (the fans are already enraged on social media), even if unfortunately the regulation is clear.
"The dispute of matches on a neutral field or behind closed doors - he recites -, even for individual sectors, they will in no case entail the right to a partial refund of the subscription and/or the reduction of the fee and/or the Subscriber's right to receive compensation or compensation and travel expenses, in the event of disqualification of the field, will be borne by the Subscriber”. Furthermore, the same conditions apply to the purchase of a ticket for a single match.
To try to remedy and please everyone a bit, Codacons had proposed broadcasting Juventus-Inter in the clear on Sunday evening. Sky, which owns the encrypted rights to the match scheduled for 20,45pm, he had immediately given his willingness to broadcast it unencrypted on TV8, its free channel (where you can sometimes watch the Europa League or MotoGp). Not even this, however, can be done at the moment: in fact, Sky does not hold the rights for unencrypted transmission, and would risk ending up in the Antitrust's crosshairs for violating the Melandri law.
Mediaset and Rai have also applied, but in reality to make free-to-air transmission possible a (new) intervention by the Government is needed, with a decree and a special motivation, perhaps for public order. At the time of writing, the hypothesis does not find confirmation.
