The Granata president at the Dla Piper Forum at San Siro: “Torino is aiming for Europe? Fifth place is even 20 points away, so we are 4 points away”
The president of Torino and RCS MediaGroup, Urbano Cairo, spoke this afternoon at the Dla Piper Forum which took place at San Siro. Cairo spoke about the need to reduce costs in the world of football: “I took over Torino from bankruptcy, when it didn’t register for the championship, in July 2005. By acquiring a club in those conditions I did it all over again. In the world of football I learned that the revenues are very important and the potential of Italian football is great. That’s why the funds are trying to get in… The sale of TV rights in Italy guaranteed a decent sum, but now we need to fight piracy as they do in Spain. And the only way to do it is to apply the law that exists. The greatest growth potential of Serie A is in foreign rights: Spain gets 900 million, England is at 2 billion, we at 300- 350 million. As you understand, the gap that divides us from these two leagues is very notable. And then it is necessary to renovate the stadiums to increase revenues: only a few Serie A teams have their own facilities and therefore we can only improve in this aspect. Having said this, even in the Premier League, where 4 billion a year comes from domestic and foreign TV rights, there are important companies that lose money. How can this happen? There are the agents with their requests, the most requested players who want more money… Increasing revenues is therefore important, but cost control is also necessary. A salary cap would be needed not only in Italy, but at a European level. The NBA managed things intelligently by introducing it: if you exceed a certain spending limit, you have to make a contribution that is redistributed among the other clubs. Is it a feasible innovation for the world of football too? It must be a European will, not just an Italian one.”
Arabia and growth decree
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Cairo also addressed the issue linked to the arrival of Saudi Arabian clubs on the market: “They brought a lot of money into football and this is not a bad thing. They bought players who were not in their prime, let’s say at the end of their careers, and they created a championship that for now does not have an incredible appeal. Anyone who puts money into the football system, however, should be appreciated. The Growth Decree? We must move forward with this decree which was initially appreciated and at the same time systems must be found to encourage work on the youth sectors. We must not forget that an activity like Serie A loses a million a day because there is a rule (the one on piracy, ed.) that is not implemented. The ‘piece’ has a million and a half subscribers and we are missing thus 350 million in revenues. The Growth Decree is a way to give football a little help that perhaps hasn’t been given before, for example in the fight against piracy.”
SUPER GOOD MORNING
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On the sidelines of the event, Cairo then focused his attention on Torino and in particular on Buongiorno, protagonist with the Italy shirt: “I am very satisfied with Buongiorno. Last night I watched the match with my children and we were very proud of Italy, who did an important thing by qualifying for the European Championships, and then certainly for our Alessandro who played a great match. And it wasn’t easy to play 90 minutes like that, having had the yellow card in the 6th minute We are all happy for him: I sent him a message immediately after the match, he replied, we spoke and he was very happy. I take this opportunity to congratulate him and Spalletti again, who really made a notable turnaround to Italy. And it wasn’t easy after everything that happened, thinking for example about the issue of betting, with two players (Zaniolo and Tonali, ed.) who left the national team during the previous break. It was one thing very heavy, but fortunately we moved forward and will be able to defend the European title. How much is Buongiorno worth today? We spoke with Alessandro last summer and he told me: ‘I’m happy to stay at Toro’. I replied to him: ‘Great, stay with us at Toro and we will have a great championship’. This is the understanding between us, so I don’t think about selling Buongiorno. Will he be the captain of the future? He was born in Taurus, he joined the academy at 7 years old, today he is 24, so he has been in this club for 17 years. He loves the Bull, he loves the grenade shirt and he is a good, fantastic, splendid boy and he also graduated… he also has a nice girlfriend and a good family. In short, he is a perfect boy. He’s not the captain yet because Rodriguez is there. As they say, he is the future captain, but let’s not say it too loudly because De Rossi had to be Roma’s captain and he did so for a very short time. Is it a coincidence that Torino has recovered since Buongiorno returned? Certainly his return was very important but the whole team improved and did great things. I saw a Zapata who had grown in a very remarkable way: he made a great contribution by opening gaps as he knows how to do with his physicality. However, I also think of Sanabria, of Gineitis, who did very well, of Milinkovic Savic himself, who made great saves, of Linetty and Ilic in the middle of the pitch, who are back to what we know, of Ricci before getting hurt, of Vlasic in goal with Sassuolo. Buongiorno is evidently a player with a great ability to drag the group along and he scored in Lecce.”
europe and scudetto
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The Granata number one then took a look at the standings: “Is Torino aiming for Europe? Certainly the match against Bologna is very important. We have to prepare it very well, but it’s too early to say, we are certainly there: with 16 points we are one step away from everything. Fifth place is even at 20 points, so we are 4 points away. Even though we had some important penalties. If we think about the match against Monza, the goal was good and there was a penalty for us. .. Plus there are many other things that I don’t want to go back to otherwise it seems like I want to complain too much, but I saw a statistic, which I didn’t do, which says that in the last three championships we have had over 200 penalties and 50 advantages (arbitration , ed.). And among the 200 penalties we have 35 penalties not given in three years. It would be good for someone to pay more attention. Not for us, but to have greater objectivity.” Scudetto chapter: “It’s too early to say whether it will be a head-to-head match between Inter and Juventus. The championship has just started and we’re only a third of the way through. Inter and Juve already have a bit of an advantage, let’s see… It will depend on the physical preparations, but certainly both have put up a mortgage to compete with each other.”
RECIPE
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The conclusion was again on the world of football and on cost containment: “Italian football has incredible potential for growth in terms of foreign rights. But then it is undeniable that there are problems linked to teams in difficulty, or may be in difficulty , due to out-of-control costs. I have reorganized groups like RCS and La 7 which were losing hundreds of millions and what I did immediately was certainly to increase revenues, but certainly also to put costs under control. Furthermore, maintaining all the strength work, therefore not firing anyone. It is very important to pay attention to costs. In the world of football when you have an increase in revenues, the players, agents and coaches immediately take it. And this is not so fair because if football does not it’s more sustainable, it’s everyone’s problem.”
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