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Once upon time, not toolong ago, the Serie A was thein thing, or as the Italians may say, alla moda. In the 1980s and 1990s, the top division of Italian footballwas the place to be for every footballer. It had the glitz, the glamour, the fans and simply the best footballers on the planet. Audiences marvelled at the gladiators on display and what gladiators they were! Almost every club had at least oneproper star in its ranks;some others had five or six.They played in great big stadiums that welcomed them with flares and music. When it came to results on the field, the Serie A made sure to dominate there too.All the other leagues paled in comparison and looked upin awe.And then, it was all gone.Of course, it wasnt asabrupt as the statement may suggest. As Europes other leagues changed and got better with time, the Serie A remained stagnant at the top.By the turn of the millennium,the cracks had started to appear and within a few years, the Italians were outstripped.The prestige that they cherished so much had more or less disappeared as a plethora of problems popped up to harm Italian footballs reputation so much so that the football world no longer sawit as they once did.Here are5 reasons for the Serie A's fall from grace in recent years.
#1 Financial difficulties
If there's one thing that Serie A needs desperately, it is money. The lack of money in the Italian game is well documented. Comapred to the English, Spanish and German leagues, the Serie A has had a relatively tougher time with the financial crisis. Most club owners are struggling with financial problems and their teams suffer as a result.
The likes of Silvio Berlusconi and Maurizio Zamparini have all tried to limit spending at their respective clubs. To make matters worse, when compared to other top European leagues, there is very little revenue coming to the club coffers in the form of merchandise and ticket sales. As for television broadcast deals, the Serie A simply cannot generate the exorbitant amounts like that of the Premier League, even after engineering a change from individual rights to a collective deal for the whole league in 2010.
Consequently, it is proving more and more difficult for Italian teams to vie for the best players and also to retain existing ones. Consider Berlusconi’s AC Milan, who have now gained notoriety for loans and free transfers. Where would the Rossoneri be without a Bosman? Milan have at least managed to bring about some amount of financial control while many other clubs are struggling to stay afloat.
Legendary defender Alessandro Nesta hit the nail on the head when he told the BBC: “There’s no money in Italy at the moment and the best players go to play in other leagues – Spain, England, Germany. Italy’s going down.”
#2 Falling standard in playing style and players signed
Serie A's monetary difficulties have resulted in another problem - an alarming decline in the standard of football. The inability to attract top players means that Italy is no longer the playground of greats such as Diego Maradona, Michel Platini, Marco Van Basten or Gabriel Batistuta.
Rather, it is now the refuge for ageing players who are past their prime and shadows of their old selves. It is the place where rejects from other leagues come to fade deeper into obscurity. It is always a cause for concern when top Italian teams look to sign the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole while their European peers fight for younger and better talents.
Many players that go out of Italy often struggle in smaller teams in other leagues; case in point: the sheer number of Serie A players who have flopped in the Premier League’s ‘lesser lights’, including, but not limited to, Emanuele Giaccherini, Pablo Osvaldo, Pablo Armero, Gaston Ramirez and Antonio Nocerino.
No wonder then that Italian teams continue to suffer in Europe. If Juventus, easily Serie A’s finest, finds it hard to strike down a regular place in the knockout stages of the Champions League, then one can imagine how good the rest of the league is.
In fact, since 2007, when AC Milan won the Champions League, only one Italian team has managed to get past the quarter-final stage – the title winning Inter Milan of Jose Mourinho. And the slump of the Nerazzurri since his departure shows how much that triumph had to do with the Portuguese supremo. It is all a far cry from the ‘90s, when Italian clubs dominated the Champions League with ease.
#3 Decline of stadiums and infrastructure
Four years ago, Italy lost out to France for the bid to host the European Championships in 2016. For many observers, it wasn’t much of a surprise, but rather only further proof that Italy’s dilapidated stadiums and the accompanying fan culture are a major turn-off for outsiders. For the Serie A and Italian football in general, it was the loss of an opportunity to push for a government-funded overhaul of stadium infrastructure.
Many stadiums that play host to Serie A matches today are from the Second World War era. Yes, they were refurbished prior to the 1990 World Cup but 25 years later, it is widely accepted that they are outdated. The main obstacle to plans for renovation is the fact that all but one of Serie A’s stadiums are not owned by the clubs. Juventus is the exception, with their sparkling new stadium.
Other Serie A teams cannot do as they wish with the ancient structures they play in and thus they remain in the same condition. The struggle to push through with redevelopment plans can be long and arduous. Napoli club President Aurelio De Laurentiis once threatened to take his team away from the city if plans for a new stadium kept hitting roadblocks.
In recent years, average Serie A attendances have dropped to around 16,000, far behind major European leagues. Dusty old stadiums do not help and it is yet another reason why matchday revenues are dwindling. What the Serie A needs is for all clubs to have their own football fan-friendly stadiums, which can bring back the fans and, as a result, generate considerable revenue.
#4 Unruly fans and racism
To say that the Serie A has suffered with fan problems will be a massive understatement. It will soon be difficult to keep count of the instances when unruly fans have brought matches to a standstill or stopped them from starting altogether; or the times when they racially target certain players with abusive chants and insults.
The immediate official response is always the same: fine the respective clubs and maybe order them to play in empty stadiums. Not surprisingly, it hasn’t helped. At a time when the average attendances have fallen so low, it is all the more worrisome when the fans that do come to the stadiums resort to such behaviour.
It doesn’t help the image of a declining league, especially when it struggles to attract players. Nobody wants to play in a stadium where one has to cower in fear of a flare or keep glancing back to avoid a projectile. As for players of African origin, regardless of what they are offered as pay, they will always think twice before pledging to be victims of racial taunts. The examples of Mario Balotelli and Kevin Prince Boateng are more than enough.
The fact that there still are fans that emphasise on skin colour speaks volumes about the dire straits of Italian football. The authorities urgently need to take concrete steps to resolve this issue or else risk alienating players and potential global audiences and sponsors.
#5 The scandals
Last but not least, we end with what has arguably become Italian football's favourite topic - the scandals. It is now considered normal for a scandal or two to hit the game every season in Italy. A series of misdeeds by players, managers, referees and officials have brought the game to severe disrepute.
The mother of all such scandals, the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal of 2006, hurt the Serie A very badly. Its champion for the past two years, Juventus, were sent packing to the Serie B while AC Milan, Lazio, Fiorentina and Reggina were all docked points. Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi was banned from the game for life.
Of course, the clubs would recover from the damage within a couple of years but Calciopoli has remained a dark mark on Italian football ever since, at times even taking the gloss off something else that transpired in the summer of 2006 – Italy’s World Cup win.
Calicopoli was followed by Calcio Scommesse or Operation Last Bet in 2011/12. This betting scandal sparked investigations across four divisions and the arrests of players such as ex-Italy striker Giuseppe Signori and Lazio vice captain Stefano Mauri. Juventus coach Antonio Conte was banned for four months.
Those investigated also included Domenico Criscito, who was subsequently recalled from Italy’s Euro 2012 squad. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and national team coach Cesare Prandelli both even suggested withdrawing from the tournament.
It doesn’t end there. Further scandals have led to further allegations, investigations and raids of club offices. It only serves to make us understand those who always look at the Serie A with a bit of cynicism. Who can blame them?
