Italy is down. But the game is not over
To not qualify for the World Cup for thethird time in a rowis a great Italian tragedy. But Italy was forewarned. The decay set in long ago. Scandals, bankruptcies and mafia involvement had crippled the Serie A for much of the century; the league lost its lustre, and the high standards it once practised; it no longer attracts the best footballers in the world; it has lost its European primacy. The production line of stalwart footballers has stopped. There is no one of the quality of Roberto Baggio or Paolo Maldini.
The rise and fall of a footballing empire has seldom been so stark. To be sure, a team ranked 12th in the world cannot be dismal, but qualifying for the World Cup has become a psychological scar. There is no papering over the abjectness of their defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was made of a wicked deflection in the playoff against Sweden before ߢ two spilled penalties by their dead-ball specialist and an injury time goal that crashed their 2022 dreams; a red card, a miss and an unusually nervous penalty shootout.
But all is not dark for Italian football. Its footballing heritage and passion are too deeply entrenched to be lost forever. The country continues to shape high-class managers and influence novel tactics. The best footballers have started getting the taste of tougher leagues. The sport is such a national obsession that administrators and officials will intensify measures to revive the sport. The World Cup will miss Italy, but it is perhaps for Italian football’s benefit that they did not qualify. Italy can now work towards a football renaissance.
- 1The decline of Italian football highlights the critical role of good governance in national sports bodies. In India, the National Sports Development Code, 2011, aims to ensure transparency and accountability in National Sports Federations. Issues like tenure limits for officials and fair elections are crucial for preventing the kind of administrative decay that can cripple a sport's development and international standing.
- 2A nation's performance in global sporting events like the FIFA World Cup is a significant component of its soft power and cultural diplomacy. Italy's footballing decline impacts its international image, just as India uses sports diplomacy through events like the Cricket World Cup to enhance its global standing. Such platforms are crucial for fostering goodwill and strengthening bilateral ties between nations beyond traditional diplomatic channels.
- 3The mention of scandals and mafia involvement in Italian football has parallels with sports corruption in India. Offences like match-fixing and sports fraud would now be investigated under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Such organized criminal activities often involve complex financial transactions, necessitating probes by agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate to uphold the integrity of professional sports.
- 4The economic ecosystem of a professional sports league, like Italy's Serie A, is vast, encompassing broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and tourism. A decline in performance and reputation, as seen with Italy, directly leads to severe financial losses and erodes brand value. This underscores how mismanagement can have a cascading negative impact on a nation's economy and the livelihoods dependent on the sports industry.