The Supercoppa Italiana clash between Juventus and Lazio was an ideal opportunity to promote Serie A, David Lee Wheatley asks did the organisers blow it?
Optimism within Italian football hasn’t been this high since the extravagant 1990s when Serie A ruled the footballing world.
Juventus dominated domestically once again last season, but crucially reached the Champions League final against all the odds to bring Calcio back into focus.
Adding to the burgeoning enthusiasm are a plethora of top new signings who have joined up with clubs including Roma, AC Milan and Inter, as administrators of the peninsula’s favourite sport attempt to regain its previous level of global popularity.
Therefore, it’s baffling that decisions were made by Lega Serie A to stage the showpiece curtain-raiser 4700 miles away from the Italian capital, in a nation that traditionally suffers its worst climactic conditions during the month of August.
In fact, the fixture was even in doubt prior to the day of the contest, with a typhoon hitting Taiwan to the south of the country earlier in the week.
Furthermore, they chose the Shanghai Stadium as the host venue, where several pre-season friendly matches had already taken place.
Italian authorities were said to be absolutely furious at the playing surface and made a formal complaint, but their appeal was dismissed.
According to various reports, they had been afforded a chance to inspect the pitch on August 5 and could have taken action, but elected not to.
The wet and windy weather, coupled with the other games that had gone on before, left the pitch in a truly awful, sub-standard state.
Bianconeri midfielder Claudio Marchisio pointed out the difficulties faced by both sides when speaking with the media at half-time.
“It’s a balanced and difficult game because of the conditions, as it’s very windy and the pitch isn’t great,” Marchisio told Rai Sport.
At that point, the match was still goalless. Probably in line with expectations, double winners Juve eventually ran out comfortable 2-0 victors in the end. However, the players’ best efforts on the field couldn’t mask the mistakes made off it.
Scheduling the Super Cup clash ahead of time in such a potentially atrocious atmospheric situation smacks of pure greed in order to exploit the Chinese market, which the Lega already know to be a very strong avenue for them to pursue.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3fcjA3TL1E[/youtube]
The Far East is Calcio-crazy, but they – along with the many viewers around the world – should feel short-changed by the overall entertainment on offer.
Possibly the silliest move of all was to earmark the very same day when the English Premier League opening weekend was set to take place.
Surely the strategy should have been to completely avoid clashing with the most-watched domestic competition on the planet, whose finances still dwarf those of Serie A?
Though China has a huge Italian football following, there are still many more fans of the English game in that area, which would’ve prompted the majority of television viewers to tune into Manchester United versus Tottenham Hotspur instead.
Despite the increased interest in the Italian top flight, with a Phoenix-like rise from the flames led by the Old Lady’s European success, the league is simply not ready to take on the might of the Premier League just yet. Those in charge should have been proactive in choosing an alternative date – and they’ll undoubtedly realise that now.
The TV production service within the host country also left a lot to be desired, thus causing further embarrassment to the Lega hierarchy, which all moulds together to create an overriding sense that a prime opportunity has passed them by.
Rather then chasing big bucks from far-flung regions, they could aim to build their brand in a more considered fashion, focusing on giving home-based supporters a realistic chance to attend such big occasions instead.
And, even if they continue to take the Supercoppa abroad, why go somewhere that is a near-impossible place meteorologically to stage top-class football when entrenched in the height of summer?
There are a great amount of factors for Lega Serie A to ponder in relation to next year and beyond, but hopefully the fare served up in Serie A and by Italian clubs in Europe next term will make up for the glaring own goal scored by the governing body.
Italy and serie A seems to be run by mentally retarded chimps. There needs to be some drastic improvements to the heads of the organisation if they want calcio back where it belongs.