If FIFA doesn’t step in to stop Saudi Arabia from dominating the transfer market, the Italy soccer federation president says the sport risks becoming unbalanced.



Currently, Saudi Arabians are throwing the soccer world into disarray by paying extraordinary salaries and making record transfer offers. Famous players who played for European sides are flocking to participate in the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/podcast/the-saudi-arabia-effect-and-how-its-changing-soccer-20230626-WST-439563.html">Saudi Pro League</a>, raising the level of play and competitiveness.



To ensure financial security for the foreseeable future, Saudi clubs offer exorbitant wages. These compensation promises led to the discussion of ‘generational wealth’ among players. Several <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/list-of-footballers-signed-by-saudi-arabia-this-summer-20230728-WST-446173.html">A-list players made the recent switch</a> to Saudi Arabia. For example, Sadio Mane, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, and Riyad Mahrez moved to the Middle East.



<h5>It all began with Ronaldo and Benzema</h5>



<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/former-saudi-pro-league-star-ighalo-ronaldo-plays-for-money-20230728-WST-446100.html">Cristiano Ronaldo</a> joined the Al-Nassr team in the Saudi Pro League in January of this year. <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/barcelona-president-slams-ronaldo-and-others-for-saudi-moves-20230803-WST-447444.html">Karim Benzema</a> and other big names in European soccer have since followed him to the Middle East. The Saudi Public Investment Fund purchased four of the league’s most successful clubs. That signaled the start of this pattern.



<h2>Italy soccer President wants FIFA to solve Saudi issue</h2>



President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Gabriele Gravina voiced his opinions on Saudi Arabia. He said the country’s recent domination of the transfer market requires action. Moreover, he said FIFA should look into the issue of Middle Eastern money ‘stealing’ players from Europe. Of course, that includes his Italian Serie A.



During the 2023 Report Calcio event, he stated, via <a href="https://sport.sky.it/calcio/europei/2023/08/03/gravina-figc-intervista-video" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sky Italia</a>: “Right now, the Saudi Arabia phenomenon responds to other logics, we know very well what the projection towards 2030 is, with respect to the logic of enhancing the sporting and football phenomenon as a social phenomenon of aggregation and product enhancement first in North America and then in China.”



“With Saudi, we are in the area of ​​competence of FIFA and I think it is right that it begins to identify a method for a whole series of interventions that no longer respond to the logic of the market but to the logic of support through the use of state funds; a state which, among other things, has the unlimited wealth. Today we still have time to partially remedy, otherwise, we will run the risk of having an absolute imbalance towards some markets.”



PHOTO: IMAGO / Pressinphoto

To attract top players from Europe, Saudi Arabia is willing to spend beyond its means, and FIGC president Gravina thinks FIFA should step in.

Italy soccer slams Saudi clubs for transfers, calls upon FIFA

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Serie A fans have had to endure a long two weeks for the international break, but they could be looking at another long break at the end of the month that could deprive fans of the most anticipated matches so far this season.
Earlier today, the Italian Professional Players’ Association announced that, due to the failure to sign a collective-bargaining agreement, all Serie A players will go on strike the weekend of September 25-26.&nbsp; That weekend has two high profile and anticipated matches, as defending champion Inter is set to visit scudetto contender AS Roma, while AC Milan hosts dark horse contender Genoa.
At issue is a proposal by the owners to limit a player’s ability to refuse a transfer.&nbsp; The proposal states that a player with more than a year on his contract cannot refuse a transfer if he is being transferred to “<a href="http:\/\/msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/europe/story/Serie-A-stars-to-go-on-strike" target="_blank">an equally competitive club</a>” that guarantees the same financial conditions.&nbsp; An example would be this offseason’s potential transfer of Fabio Grosso to AC Milan, when he refused to leave Juventus. Also, the players are allegedly upset with another proposal that would force players to be <a href="http:\/\/www.tsn.ca/soccer/story/?id=333260" target="_blank">treated by team-appointed physicians</a> instead of their own doctors.
FIGC President Giancarlo Abete has called for a meeting Monday with himself, AIC representatives and Serie A leadership.&nbsp; But even if some agreement is reached, the strike will likely continue according to AIC representative (and Milan fullback) Massimo Oddo: “The players are fed up with being treated like objects and not like people. We are dealing with human rights here.”
This is the first players’ strike since the 1995 <a href="http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosman_ruling" target="_blank">Bosman ruling</a> over player transfers.&nbsp; While strikes have been threatened in the past, this time it looks like the strike will definitely happen.&nbsp; I am sure we have not heard all sides of the debate, but the timing on this announcement could not be worse.&nbsp; Italy’s season is already behind that of England, Germany, and France and now faces another break four matches into the season.&nbsp; The next international break is two weeks after the strike, so by mid-October Serie A fans would have only seen their favorite club play five Serie A matches.
Ultimately, the fault lies with both sides for not resolving this situation over the summer, and as usual it is the fans who will suffer.&nbsp; But what do you think about the strike?

Serie A Players to Strike on 5th Matchday - World Soccer Talk

Serie A Players to Strike on 5th Matchday

During the World Cup, news has been leaking out about changes to the Lega Calcio Serie A, the newly independent league formerly know as simply Serie A.&nbsp; Most of the announcements were overshadowed by the World Cup, but below are the changes that FIGC has announced over the past few weeks.
A few weeks back the new logo for Lega Calcio Serie A was unveiled.&nbsp; As you can see, the new logo is slick and more modern, but American sports fans may see a resemblance to the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes logo.&nbsp; Honestly, I have no feelings either way but the comment section is open for you if you do.
The league last week announced its outline of the schedule for the 2010-2011 season, and the biggest change is the addition of more Friday matches.&nbsp; The league will now have one match on Friday evenings to allow for more rest between European competitions.&nbsp; There will be one Friday time slot, two Saturday, and three Sunday.
The new season will begin on August 28/29 (less than two months away!) and conclude on May 22.&nbsp; There will be a winter break from December 19 through January 6, and the four rounds of midweek fixtures will take place November 10, January 6, February 2, and March 2.
The most recent announcement, however, may be the most controversial.&nbsp; FIGC <a href="http:\/\/www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11854_6243648,00.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced over the weekend</a> that it has reduced the number of non-European players permitted on each roster from two to one.&nbsp; The goal, according to FIGC, is to force clubs to develop more Italian talent in the wake of the Azzurri’s disastrous World Cup.&nbsp; Serie A voted against the change, and <a href="http:\/\/soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=805475&amp;sec=europe&amp;cc=5901" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been vocal</a> in its disapproval of the new rule.&nbsp; There are ways around the rule of course – sweep foreign players into the EU fold due to lineage or residency, but it seems like a knee jerk reaction to a bad World Cup.
Share your thoughts on any of the changes in the comments section below or via Twitter @<a href="http:\/\/www.twitter.com/roberthayjr">roberthayjr</a>.

Friday Matches, Fewer Foreigners, Other Serie A Changes - World Soccer Talk

Friday Matches, Fewer Foreigners, Other Serie A Changes

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Genoa have plenty of options for their search for a keeper, while they’ve practically sealed the deal with the Corinthians keeper Felipe, they could be rethinking their plans a little bit. This is thanks to the new rule on player transfers which could hit Serie A teams, reducing the slots to only one non-European player allowed to be bought each transfer window. And so the idea of buying Felipe is beginning to fade as new names are beginning to spring up.
While Genoa was first looking at Chievo’s Sorrentino, a young Italian keeper, it seems like Chievo might be interested in keeping him as they will fight relegation and maybe push into the mid-table next season. And so Genoa were thinking of Eduardo, 27 year-old Portuguese international who put in a relatively good showing in the South Africa 2010 World Cup. Eduardo is currently playing with Sporting Braga and he would be the preferred choice, but Genoa has the option to go after Cagliari’s Federico Marchetti.
Marchetti was Italy’s second choice goal-keeper for the Azzurri’s World Cup campaign, and he got to play for almost all three matches because of Buffon’s injury. While he had a couple of errors here and there, he was decent overall, and his value has risen. Cagliari would be happy to sell Marchetti for a tidy sum since they’re currently getting Biasi on a two year deal, who is currently a free agent. Cagliari are also looking to keep Acquafresca, the young Italian striker who is currently owned by Genoa. Cagliari’s president Cellino wants a loan deal, but Genoa were already talking with Udinese, and are only interested in selling half the player as a shared deal.
As for Genoa’s other moves in the transfer market, Preziosi is always chasing after Portsmouth’s Kevin Prince Boateng, and since the Ghanaian international has a German passport, he wouldn’t take Genoa’s non-European slot. Portsmouth were relegated last season in the English Premier League after their financial disaster which forced them to go into administration, they’re trying to balance the books by selling players and hopefully be promoted from the Championship next season. It seems like Boateng will probably end up at Genoa, it all depends on how much Portsmouth want for the player who just had a great World Cup with Ghana.
Genoa seems to be the most active Serie A team in the transfer market, the rossoblu signed Luca Toni and will be pushing for a Europa league spot if not a Champions League spot to solidify their financial security.

Genoa have Felipe but think about Eduardo - World Soccer Talk

Genoa have Felipe but think about Eduardo

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As the World Cup is attracting all headlines related to soccer, there’s always a small echo of transfer market news which now, after Italy’s elimination from the World Cup, becomes much more than an echo for Italy fans. And as you read about transfer rumors and deals, you hear the names like Di Maria, Maicon, Mascherano, and Kuyt, but none of these names are of Italian players…
Italy has always had a high amount of transfers from clubs within the Serie A, there’s always plenty of internal loan deals and low-cost transfers that take place in the Italian leagues. While this isn’t a bad thing, it’s something which limits the amount of foreign players coming in, and Italian players going out. While there are few big-name players coming to Italy, there’s even more that are leaving only to be replaced by aging players who used to be the real deal.
Kaka and Ibrahimovic, two players who could’ve been considered among the top five in the world, left the Serie A only to be replaced by an old Ronaldinho and Eto’o. The standard is just not good enough to attract the world’s best players, and if things continue like this, the German Bundesliga could overtake the Serie A. But this isn’t even touching on the true problem; there are no Italian players that other teams are interested in.
When a great player emerges from his country and moves to a top league, this attracts interest from scouts and other teams to take a look at that nation’s league and its players. This just isn’t happening, nobody is interested in Italian players from the Serie A. There hasn’t been a true Italian star that is considered at the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney, Kaka, or David Villa for quite some time now. There isn’t an Italian player that people would put in their dream team, or in the top 20 best players, and maybe even in the top 25.
You might be asking why there aren’t any great Italian players, but the answer is simple, and we all know it deep-down inside ourselves; Italy just isn’t that good anymore, the players aren’t good enough. Italy has fallen behind, you watch young crops of players from Germany like Muller, Ozil, and Khedira all shine and lead their national team to victory at the young ages of 20, 21, and 23. Italy doesn’t spend money where it needs to, while Coverciano is good, it’s not good enough. Italy need to spend some serious money and build one of the finest academies in the world like France’s Clairefontaine academy, then in 10 or 20 years, we’ll begin to see a World Cup winning side.
While I may seem harsh, I do think that Italy have some good talent like Balotelli, Montolivo, and Rossi, I still don’t think it’s enough to win a World Cup. When Italy gets a top-level academy up and running, they’ll start producing world-class players, and then get exposure for the league and hopefully attract better players and bring in more money for what seems to be a dying league.

No Eye-catching Italian players? - World Soccer Talk

No Eye-catching Italian players?

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The 2010 World Cup is coming fast, and the time has come where provisional&nbsp;squads are being announced from countries in the tournament. The FIGC (Federazione Italiana Giouco Calcio) or the Italian FA has revealed the 30-man provisional squad chosen by Marcello Lippi.
Here are all 30 players in their positions and the clubs they play for: 
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Napoli), Marchetti (Cagliari), Sirigu (Palermo)
Defenders: Bocchetti (Genoa), Bonucci (Bari), Cannavaro (Juventus), Cassani (Palermo), Chiellini (Juventus), Criscito (Genoa), Grosso (Juventus), Maggio (Napoli), Zambrotta (Milan)
Midfielders: Camoranesi (Juventus), Candreva (Juventus), Cossu (Cagliari), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Palombo (Sampdoria), Pepe (Udinese), Pirlo (Milan)
Strikers: Borriello (Milan), Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Iaquinta (Juventus), Pazzini (Sampdoria), Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)
If you want a breakdown of all the new additions and players left out, be sure to check&nbsp;<a href="http:\/\/www.serieatalk.com/rossi-named-to-italian-national-team/2382" target="_self">this</a> article out.

Italian National team Provisional Squad  - World Soccer Talk

Italian National team Provisional Squad

<div id="attachment_2135" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/22/jose-mourinho-banned-internazionale"><div><figure class="image"></figure></div></a>Photograph: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters</div>
This weekend’s action has a wealth of subplots, controversy, and exciting soccer play.&nbsp; But the main story line out of this weekend is the standings.&nbsp; Right now, the top four spots in the Serie A standings are occupied by the clubs most thought would occupy them in some order: Inter Milan, AS Roma, AC Milan, and Juventus.&nbsp; And with fourteen weeks to go, the title race in again in doubt as the top clubs drew closer together.
AC Milan showed it is a championship club
Viewers of the AC Milan/Bari match saw a clinic put on by the Rossoneri.&nbsp; The 2-0 scoreline was deceiving; Milan dominated the action pretty much from beginning to end.&nbsp; Ronaldinho was once again magnificent with the ball, setting up both Milan goals.&nbsp; And Milan’s defense was good, with Abbiati denying some good scoring opportunities for the home club.&nbsp; This is the club Milan fans thought they would see all year, and a Wednesday win over Fiorentina will move Milan into second.
Inter goes shorthanded again – during and after the match
Much like the Milan derby this year, Inter again had players sent off in the course of their match against Sampdoria.&nbsp; But instead of pulling out a win like they did against Milan, Inter could only muster a scoreless draw.&nbsp; To describe the play as chippy would be an understatement; the match featured multiple fights and some overly aggressive tackles.&nbsp; Not only were two Inter players eventually sent off, but so was Sampdoria’s star Pazzini.&nbsp; And of course it would not be an Inter match without a Jose Mourinho subplot – the Inter manager was <a href="http:\/\/www.rs.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2010/02/22/1802415/breaking-news-inter-boss-jose-mourinho-banned-for-three" target="_blank">suspended three Serie A matches</a> for the “disrespectful” gesture seen above.
AS Roma moves closer to Inter
Another weekend, another Roma victory.&nbsp; This weekend the victim was Catania, when Roma scored an early goal and held on for the victory.&nbsp; The goal was Mirko Vucinic’s fifth in Serie A this season.&nbsp; They now sit five points behind Inter Milan, and travel to Napoli next week before their major home match against Milan.
Napoli slips a little more while Siena shows progress
Napoli failed to score a goal against last place Siena and has now gone four matches without a victory.&nbsp; The match leaves them in fifth place, one point behind Juventus for the final Champions League spot.&nbsp; The problem seems to be their offense – this was their third goalless draw in the current winless streak.&nbsp; On the flip side, Siena has now gone two games without a loss.&nbsp; A bit of momentum, but it may be too little too late as they sit seven points from seventeenth place.
Seven words you can’t say on a soccer pitch
Basketball officials call them “the magic words” – those obscenities that are grounds for an automatic technical foul.&nbsp; Udinese defender Christian Zapata said his own magic words on the pitch in Saturday’s and was immediately given a yellow card under FIGC’s new anti-swearing rules.&nbsp; It was yellow card number two, and Udinese had to play ten men down the rest of the match.&nbsp; A warning to all footballers – watch your tongue.

ALL POSTS TAGGED "FIGC"

FIGC

Italy soccer slams Saudi clubs for transfers, calls upon FIFA

AC Milan

Serie A Players to Strike on 5th Matchday

General

Friday Matches, Fewer Foreigners, Other Serie A Changes

Genoa

Genoa have Felipe but think about Eduardo

Leagues: Serie A

No Eye-catching Italian players?

Italy

Italian National team Provisional Squad

General

Lessons Learned from Giornata 25