Andrea Abodi (Italy's sports minister) is right about the need for a commissioner to address the problem of football stadiums in Italy. Stadiums cannot remain the unavailable property of local authorities. Not all municipalities have the necessary funds either to transform stadiums that have been obsolete for 60 years or to maintain them. When compared to other nations, Italian football is unable to dress itself up when putting on a show. It must be remembered that hundreds of players from other nations play in the Italian league and are therefore followed by many loyal supporters abroad, but we do not present them the image that our football merits because of our facilities, which discredit our nation too. Even the way the matches themselves are filmed is often compromised by the inadequacy of the facilities. Not to mention the security problems. It is important for Abodi to explain to the chosen commissioner that there is absolutely no need to espouse the customary 'bureaucratese' that has always encumbered our country, instead freeing stadiums from complex authorisations that are often subject to supervisory bodies that are completely ignorant of sports culture and are accustomed by nature to espousing the aforementioned 'bureaucratese' in full.
Napoli club president, Aurelio De Laurentiis
