In the 1990s Italy’s Serie A was probably the biggest league in the world. The biggest stars were all making their money in Italy, and Italian teams dominated the european cups. During the 200os the league was slowly caught up by the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga. How did Serie A lose its advantage?
The Decline Of Italian Football
A good place to start could be 2006, and the disclosure of the match fixing scandal, known as “calciopoli”. Several clubs were found guilty of paying off referees and players to ensure certain matches had the right results. Big teams as Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio were found guilty and received punishments. The most comprehensive punishment was given to Juventus, who were stripped of 2 league championships, and given a relegation to Serie B. This scandal had a tremendous impact on the leagues reputation. Perhaps the most damaging consequense of the scandal is that many experts still believe match fixing is common in Serie A.
In 2009 two of the worlds biggest stars, Kaka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were sold from AC Milan, to clubs in Spanish La Liga. This would show itself as a big indication of how the league have lost some of is appeal to the biggest players in the world. Serie A cannot compete in regards to both wages and the level of competition. AC Milan have been in steady decline ever since.
A decline in quality can also be said about giant club Internazionale. Regarded as one of the best clubs in the world under Jose Mourinho. As late as 2010 Inter won the Champions League, Serie A and the Italian Cup. Since the departure of Jose Mourinho, and several star players, the club has been struggling to even qualify for the Champions League.
The biggest problem of Serie A for the last decades, have probably been poor management. Several clubs have been run in a poor manner, both in terms of economy, but also with the development of stadiums. Most stadiums are not even owned by the clubs that use them, which leaves the clubs unwilling to invest funds into the development of the stadiums. This has again had the affect of crowd attendances dropping, which again leads to less income for the clubs. However, Juventus who recently built their own stadium, seem to inspire other clubs to do the same. More clubs will probably follow in their footsteps.
The latest lowpoint is the economical disaster at Serie A side Parma AC. The club with reportedly over 100 players in their squad have been in a downward economical spiral for several years, but this was not clear until this season. The staff and players stopped receiving payments six months ago. Last weekend Parma had to postpone a match at home because the club were not able to pay for the event. Serie A now faces the choice to declare the club bankruptcy, or let the club finish their season. Both choices are controversial.
So is the Serie A in terminal stages? Well, probably not. There are several positive signs to be seen. Internazionale are showing improvement under Roberto Mancini, and have picked up star players like Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri. AC Milan are certainly a sleeping giant, but have been unable to replace the players of the golden generation, such as Paolo Maldini, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi. Still AC Milan are a very well run club, with high standards in the training facilities and an own medical centre. AC Milan are experiencing a bad period, but there is little doubt the club will compete with the best in Europe within few years. Also, the plans for more clubs to purchase their own stadiums will bring back the crowds, and also more income.
Juventus and Roma are two clubs that have been able to compete in the top of Serie A, and in Europe for several years. These clubs dont seem to be affected much of the decline of the league standard. Other clubs have also invested heavily in their squads, with a more sensible approoach than before. Serie A will bounce back, perhaps not to the level of the Spanish or English league, but in a much stronger condition than now.
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