The Italy of the Olympics that defies the crisis, the cuts to sport, football that is unable to free itself from scandals, the TVs that dominate and distort the tournaments, the anxieties of a national team which, despite the difficult management of its forwards, is among the semifinalists for the continental title. One month away from the five London circles and in the midst of the final stage of the European Championships, a tour of horizons with Gianni Mura, one of the most prestigious names in sports journalism.
The Games are… done. And the numbers too. Italy will show up with a smaller delegation than Beijing. Is there anything to worry about for the medal collection?
“We bring fewer athletes than at the Olympics because cuts have been made, given the moment of serious crisis. And I believe that Giorgio Napolitano's tears were also for this reason, because he realizes that a few medals would be needed to boost Italy's morale. It's difficult to make predictions about the medal table: going with a smaller delegation than in the past doesn't mean giving up the podium or some medals from the start. Swimming, fencing with old glories like Valentina Vezzali, rhythmic gymnastics do not betray. And then generally there are always some surprises in the blue expedition. Which can come from race walking, for example, or from volleyball from which it is right to expect at least one podium finish".
Economic situation and crisis in Italian sport, two parallel tracks?
“It is undeniable. There have also been cuts in Coni's budgets, and it is clear that sport is affected. But it's not right for me to cry because there have been cuts to other vital sectors, from culture to research. Sport cannot expect to stay out of it. There is confidence for the Azzurri who will go to London, something good can still come. It is the future that worries. The cuts, I'm afraid, have repercussions on grassroots activity, the one that doesn't end up in the newspapers but which is precisely the heart, the soul of sport. Maybe we will feel the long wave of this crisis in a few years”.
Let's go back to our football problems. Can Balotelli really become a champion or is the head decisive at certain levels? Will City's talent sooner or later consecrate himself as a true top player?
“Becoming a champion depends only on him. Because he cannot say that he has been denied first and second chances for revenge, both in club and national teams. Prandelli is betting everything on Balotelli and Cassano, it's a double bet to manage players like them, who are difficult to control. Balotelli has unpleasant or reprehensible attitudes on and off the pitch, not just on or off the pitch: this is the problem. He cannot consider himself perpetually at war with the whole world alone, also because he is not alone. He has to play more as if he were an eleven playerI' if we talk about the national team”.
But the problems or discontents of Italian football are not linked only to Prandelli's attacker, but also and above all to the events of football betting. How should the provocation launched a few weeks ago by Prime Minister Mario Monti be interpreted?
“That of the prime minister was a boomerang because the answers were all in the style of 'then let's close Parliament too'. Football betting is a very bad scandal and you have to make sure that whoever made the mistake pays. However, it seems to me it concerns a very marginal slice and above all, except for very few cases, a slice of minor football, not what we see on television. Some players have discovered that you can make money beyond signing”.
Having ascertained the need to clarify, there is also the TV with football stew not to favor clarity.
“The regularity of football is distorted by television because it is clear that if one plays at 15 pm and one at 20,30 pm he already knows the result and can adjust accordingly. Once we connected to the radio lines and the matches were all at the same time. Stew is an incitement to bad thoughts and bad deeds. However, without the money from the televisions, Italian football as it is structured would be dead: the clubs are unable to support themselves due to blindness in their budgets and wide-sleeved salaries. I've always thought that if you offer players who earn ten million euros five in the end they take it, it's not a question of going to sleep under bridges."
All of this has come about because the salary bar has risen
“And unfortunately this is also useful for mediocre players: today someone who doesn't play for Milan earns more than Rivera, a Juve reserve earns more than Platini. When they tell you 'this is the market', well this is the market gone crazy. By now, the players are making money in football, especially their agents, while the clubs are heading, if they aren't already, towards economic suicide because if you spend more than you collect, this is the reality. The fault, once again, lies with the televisions. They are the ones who back the bandwagon and do what they want because they care about the audience and not the regularity. This is why the stew is not a guarantee of regularity. However, it lends itself to calculations.
But it's hard to go back. Even abroad it is now like this. And not only.
“I can say that the same goes for international competition calendars where there is someone who rests an extra day: if we talk about Italy, they have the advantage of an extra day of rest compared to England. And one more day in a humid climate means a lot. In fact, I think Italy will win easily against England, I'm one of the few who think so, but I think so”.
