FIGC president Giancarlo Abete tells Kevin Azzopardi that Italian football has retained its credibility despite being rocked to its core by a series of match-fixing scandals

When Italy overcame adversity to win the 2006 World Cup in Germany for the fourth time in their history, thousands of euphoric supporters thronged the Maltese streets to celebrate their success.

Seven years later, this long-standing passion for Italian football was in abundant evidence when, on March 26, 2013, Malta’s 2014 World Cup qualifier against the Azzurri drew a sell-out crowd to the National Stadium.

Further examples of the footballing links between the two nations abound... Italian coach Pietro Ghedin is in his second spell at the helm of Malta, Luca Pagani is the physical trainer of the senior national squad and a host of Maltese coaches have done their UEFA Pro badge with the FIGC.

More recently, the presence of Giancarlo Abete and Sergio Di Cesare, the president and international secretary of the FIGC, at the Malta FA’s annual general meeting, offered further proof, if any was needed, of the strong rela-tionship between the two associations.

“We, as the Italian football federation (FIGC), have an excellent rapport with the Maltese association,” Abete said in an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta.

“I’m also here as vice-president of UEFA and therefore as observer of UEFA.

“It is a convergence of the two roles, on one side the attention UEFA is dedicating to the congress of the Maltese federation through my presence in my capacity as vice-president and, on the other, the rapport of co-operation and sympathy we’ve always had with the Maltese association.

“This has particularly intensified in the last few years, having also had the opportunity, after a long time, to be in the same group of the World Cup qualifiers.

“We have played the two games which turned out to be quite complex (Italy won both qualifiers 2-0). It’s obvious that Italian football presents itself as an important football at international level but today every game has its own story and therefore every match must be won on the field of play.”

Italy have been reinvigorated by the ap-pointment of Cesare Prandelli as coach after their ignominious exit at the group stage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Under Prandelli, Italy have reached the final of Euro 2012, where they were outclassed by Spain, and a few weeks ago, finished third in the Confederations Cup, having lost a close semi-final against Spain on penalties.

The Azzurri are also on course to secure early qualification for next year’s World Cup in Brazil as they lead Group B with 14 points from six matches, four ahead of second-placed Bulgaria, while the U-21s finished second in the recent European Championship in Israel.

For Abete, these results attest to Italy’s ability to maintain a high level of competitiveness on the international scene.

“We are satisfied, moreso as in a mani-festation like the Confederations Cup, it’s not only the result that counts but also to chart a path towards the 2014 World Cup,” the FIGC head said.

“Naturally, we still have to reach this target but we are in a strong position (to qualify).

“Today, football, apart from delivering a final result, must also elicit emotions and participation from the public and we have had a Confederations Cup that was strongly followed by our fans in terms of participation with an important television audience.

“The game against Spain (semi-final) was watched by 12 million people and the penalty shoot-out against Uruguay attracted 10 million viewers.

“Therefore, there was a level of partici-pation that transcends the importance of the competition.

“Overall, even allowing for the alternating performances, all the five matches were emotional in so far as Italy were concerned... the first against Mexico, then against Japan, in which we suffered a lot, the defeat against Brazil in the third group game and then the semi-final and third place play-off, both of which were decided by penalties.

“So, all five games were very interesting.

“We also achieved a commendable result with second place in the European U-21 Championships. Spain proved to be superior at U-21 level but we had a positive tournament that left us all satisfied.

“We must also bear in mind that many players who could have turned out for the U-21s were with the senior squad, from (Mario) Balotelli, (Mattia) De Sciglio to (Stephan) El Shaarawy. They are players who, age-wise, were still eligible to play for the U-21s but who, for some time, have been promoted to the senior squad.

“This is another reason to be satisfied because as much as it’s important to win, it’s also important to maintain an elevated level of competitiveness.

The fact that a great club like Juve had to restart first from Serie B and then rebuild to be competitive at international level, also had an effect

“The second place of the senior team at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, the second place of the Under-21s (in Euro Cham-pionship) and the third place in the Confederations Cup demonstrate that we have remained very competitive.

“We now hope that the clubs do well in the international competitions next season.”

Club struggles

Italian clubs have struggled to live up to their glorious past in European competitions in the last few years with Inter delivering the country’s last success in the Champions League in 2010.

Last season, Udinese failed to make it to the group stages while Milan and Juventus crashed out to Barcelona and eventual winners Bayern Munich respectively.

Since last season, Italy have surrendered one of the four Champions League spots to Germany as the Bundesliga’s UEFA co-efficient is better than that of the Serie A.

Abete believes that Juve’s absence from the major European competitions following their demotion to the Serie B in 2006 contributed to the country’s drop in the UEFA co-efficient standings.

“Italian clubs have struggled in terms of their collective ranking because, since last year, we have lost a berth in the Champions League,” Abete observed.

“The fact that a great club like Juve had to restart first from Serie B and then rebuild to be competitive at international level, also had an effect.

“We have Juventus and Napoli who have qualified directly (for the Champions League group stage) and Milan in the preliminary (play-offs).

“We hope to have three clubs in the group stages in order to do better than last season in which we managed to advance but then, at a certain point, the progress stopped.”

Italian football has been a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly in recent years.

On the field of play, Italy has, by and large, upheld its status as one of the world’s footballing superpowers thanks to their success in the 2006 World Cup and second place in last year’s European Championships but such highlights have been interspersed with a seemingly endless spate of match-fixing cases.

While acknowledging that the sceptre of match-fixing has sullied the image of football, Abete believes that the Italian game has weathered the storm.

“We have followed with great attention this problem of match-fixing, calcioscommesse, which unfortunately infests part of the world and part of Europe, therefore it’s quite widespread,” Abete remarked.

“I think our judicial organs must always keep a watchful eye because there is a priority of the penal justice vis-a-vis the sporting justice. There are also sporting procedures in process.

“We have concluded the first phase, that relating to the investigation of the Bari prosecutor’s office.

“We think that, since June 1, 2011, substan-tially we are living with the investigations of the public prosecutors as the first arrests linked to illegal betting were made more than two years ago.

“Notwithstanding these difficulties, which have obviously damaged the entire sporting system, we have retained an important level of credibility. Even in season 2012/13, in the Serie A, we registered an increase in the number of spectators despite the inadequacies of our stadia.

“This shows that these phenomena, which are absolutely unacceptable and must be eradicated, haven’t tarnished the passion of our fans.

“We have bore the brunt despite the difficult situations because a problem like that of match-fixing can’t but damage the image of Italian and international football.”

Safeguarding the values of fair play is one of three main challenges for the FIGC.

“The primary challenge is to have values of reference that can be recognised at a sporting level,” Abete said.

“Football and other sport can grow and it’s important they do in order to create more economic and occupational opportunities, also to improve ability to diffuse this reality throughout the world, but it’s equally important that the sporting values are safeguarded.

“Thus, the principal challenge is to protect the values of correctness, respect for the fans, the importance of the competition, the credibility of football – this is a universal challenge.

“We have read about some grotesque situations which took place in Nigeria recently, two matches that finished 67-0 and 79-0, therefore it’s a worldwide issue.

“We have a greater responsibility because we represent an important football in Europe.

“The other challenge concerns the sporting facilities. We have seen the work of the Maltese federation and the president (Norman) Darmanin Demajo who has worked hard to invest in sporting facilities.

“The somewhat small reality that is rep-resented by Malta in this problem also applies to us in Italy in the sense that we need legislation on sporting facilities that covers not only football but also the other disciplines.

“The purpose is not to make use of the public resources, because this is not the right time to do that, but to facilitate the procedures for the reconstruction and renovation of stadia.

“In the previous legislature, it was not possible to pass this law but we hope to introduce it in this one. It’s important to accelerate the procedures without under-mining the resources of the public sector because there are other priorities in this phase of the economic crisis in Europe.

“But it’s paramount that Italy regains an element of competitivity in the area of sports facilities because the problem we have today is that the stadia have a strategic importance for the competitivity of our clubs and most of our clubs don’t have adequate stadiums to meet the challenges.

“The third challenge is the development of the youth sectors. The game has become more globalised and all the countries know this.

“We are aware that there has been an open debate that has provided solutions also here in Malta about the mix between the homegrown players and the presence of foreigners.

“We also know that in a competitive system like the Italian, you can’t impose excessive restrictions because, above all, we have to respect the EU regulations.

“This is a challenge for Italian football, especially for the federation as we have to protect the competitivity and the progress of the national youth selections leading up to the senior squad.”

In the eighties and nineties, Italy was home to the world’s greatest players, the likes of Diego Maradona, Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Careca as the Serie A was universally regarded as the strongest and richest league, but that is no longer the case.

That is not to say that Italy’s leading clubs are no longer able to lure top players but they have clearly lost their dominant position as most don’t have the financial muscle to compete with the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and a host of clubs all bankrolled by billionaire owners.

Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani and Montenegro forward Stevan Jovetic are the latest in a line of star players who have been prised away from the Serie A after joining the oil-rich Paris St Germain and Manchester City from Napoli and Fiorentina respectively.

“It’s disappointing when great players leave your championship for other leagues but nevertheless, other top players have joined Italian clubs this year, like Tevez and Gomez,” Abete said.

“Cavani and Jovetic have departed and we know that there is this changeover because there are other clubs in Europe that can invest more than the Italians, the likes of Paris SG and Manchester City but in the end, the com-petitivity and beauty of a championship is created, yes, by the star players, but also by average quality of the other players.

“Faced with certain figures, it becomes difficult not to acknowledge that there are clubs who can spend more (than Italian teams) these days.”

Darmanin Demajo praise

Away from the hype and glamour surrounding Europe’s leading nations and their clubs, small countries like Malta are engaged in an on-going struggle to raise the level of their football.

The association’s performance in the last three years received a ringing endorsement from the clubs who renewed their trust in Norman Darmanin Demajo to continue lead-ing the MFA for the next three years.

Abete was effusive in his praise for the work carried out by Darmanin Demajo and his administration in the last three years.

“Norman deservedly got an important confirmation, also in terms of the quality and quantity of the consensus because he has done a good job,” the FIGC head said.

“On one side, this is reflected in the figures provided, namely the attention devoted to the financial balances, the sporting infrastructure and the development of the national squads with the recent success in Armenia showing that Maltese football is improving.

“We have maintained a constant rapport between our federations. The policy to support the reinforcement of the coaching and technical sector and major international experiences for young Maltese players are two important modalities because today, on one hand, you have to maintain the ability to take the game forward in your territory, but on the other, there’s a need to open up.

“Thus, I think that a good job has been done and the results achieved are testament to this.”

Giancarlo Abete – profile

Date of birth: 26 August, 1950.

Current UEFA roles: Executive Committee (vice-president); Development and Technical Assistance Committee (chairman); National Team Competitions Committee (deputy chairman); Finance Committee (member).

• A media and information entrepreneur, Giancarlo Abete obtained a degree in Economics and Commerce at Rome’s Sapienza University and has served as a member of the Italian Parliament (1972-1992).

• He was first elected FIGC president in April 2007 and re-elected in March 2009, and was admitted to the UEFA Executive Committee two years later. In January 2013, Abete was re-elected as FIGC president for another four-year term.