The Economist Carlo Cottarellian Inter fan and principal engineer for Interspac, talks to Gazzetta dello sport One of the possible economic repercussions on Italian football is its failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Cottarelli, will this exclusion have very dire effects as many fear?
“Obviously there will be multi-million losses for the federation due to the lack of participation and the sponsorship that will necessarily go over. But we won the European Championship eight months ago: because we weren’t supposed to be so excited at the time, we shouldn’t get too depressed now, no Wembley’s victory goes down in history and could remain a good driving force in terms of image even after this setback. And frankly I don’t think the sponsors will be any less interested in Italian football in the long term.”
Does it also refer to clubs?
“Above all. I am convinced that this elimination will not lose its appeal, given that it is full of foreign players.”
from where we start?
“Italian football is a sector that needs a strategic rethink, starting with the stadiums that are rather old and not allowing us to earn what this sport and this country deserve, they are not places where families go voluntarily. I can. I am not talking about the popular contribution, which I still think It’s a good thing: there is evidence that similar initiatives can help form a bond between fans and clubs, and thus increase revenue.”
We can’t help but ask you a question about Insterspac: Where are we now?
“It’s a long-term project that we believe in and continue to work on internally. Next summer we’ll make the point back, and maybe even publish an estimate of how much we can earn thanks to the famous contributors.”
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