Serie A chief blames illegal streaming for Italy's decline
June 18 (Reuters) - Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo has pointed to illegal streaming and the resulting lack of TV revenue as a factor behind Italy's struggles to nurture homegrown talent as the Azzurri strive to return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014.
Once a permanent fixture at the World Cup, four-times world champions Italy find themselves in dire straits having missed out on the last two editions and at risk of missing out on a third after losing their first qualifier against Norway.
Italian authorities recently intensified efforts to counter online piracy, which is costing billions of euros to broadcasters and sports leagues globally as they try to protect the value of their broadcast rights.
TV rights make up the bulk of revenue for Serie A teams and De Siervo said "there is still a mountain to climb" after they lost revenue to the tune of 300 million euros ($345.15 million) last year.
"Many question why our national team is in this situation and why there is a lack of talent, one reason being the losses due to piracy," De Siervo said at an event on the fight against piracy.
"All the money that is lost every year is not invested in the youth teams and in the growth of our young players, a major issue that has led our national team to face many difficulties.
"In addition to this, the age-old facilities do not allow the clubs and the system to obtain high revenues. This has to be changed and this law goes in the right direction."
De Siervo said if they continue to lose revenue, Italy and Serie A could tumble down UEFA's coefficient rankings.
"We are already far behind the Premier League and the Spanish LaLiga," he added.
"If we continue like this, we will finish behind the Germans and we will end up being at the bottom of the table (of Europe's top five leagues) together with the French."
($1 = 0.8692 euros)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Recruiter Hays warns over profits as hiring slump in German car sector worsens
Recruiter Hays has warned that its annual profits could fall short of expectations because of a lacklustre global jobs market and German car firms slowing hiring amid the threat of higher US tariffs. Shares in the company, which is one of the biggest recruitment agencies in Europe and the largest to be listed in the UK, dropped by more than 13% following the update on Thursday morning. It said activity in recent months had dropped, driven largely by weakness in permanent recruitment globally 'reflecting low levels of client and candidate confidence as a result of macroeconomic uncertainty'. The market for temporary and contracting work continues to be more resilient, it said. Hays has been grappling with a downturn in global hiring for a prolonged period, leading it to cut staffing levels significantly to reduce costs. Worsening economic conditions in much of Western Europe, and growing uncertainty from US President Donald Trump's trade policies and conflict in the Middle East, have contributed to many firms holding off hiring. In Germany, the group's largest market, subdued activity in the automotive sector has driven weaker permanent and temporary recruitment. Car makers in the country are facing up to a 25% tariff rate on exports to the US with big firms pushing to make a deal with Mr Trump to soften the blow. Hays said it was expecting fees to decline by 5% in Germany, and by a steeper 13% from permanent recruitment within its UK and Ireland business. Lower fees are expected to eat into its earnings, with the firm now forecasting a pre-exceptional operating profit of about £45 million for the year to the end of June, down from the £56.4 million previously guided by analysts. Looking ahead, Hays said it expects 'challenging market conditions to persist' into the new financial year, meaning it was focusing on improving fee income and efficiency.
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tried and tested in war: For European drone manufacturers, Ukraine is the place to be
About once a month, French drone manufacturer Henri Seydoux makes what has become a necessary pilgrimage for many in his business — he goes to Ukraine. Because for drone technology, there is no harder place to survive than the frontlines of the war against Russia's invasion, where both sides are using unmanned aerial machines of all shapes and sizes to kill and to observe, reshaping modern warfare. And because the battlefields also bristle with electronic countermeasures and weapons to confuse, jam and shoot down drones, Ukraine has also become an extreme real-life proving ground for advances in drone technology, some of which has started to spill over into non-military sectors. For manufacturers, being able to say that their drones and related equipment have been battle-tried and tested by Ukrainian forces is becoming a sales pitch as they market their wares not just to national defense departments, but also to police forces, border authorities, rescue services and civilian users. 'When we say, 'This is a good machine, it works,' people can believe us or not. But when it's guys in Ukraine and others saying they're happy, it has greater value," says Bastien Mancini, president and co-founder of French drone manufacturer Delair, which has teamed up with European defense contractor KNDS to supply Ukrainian forces with 100 exploding drones. KNDS' sales literature notes that they are 'combat-proven." Mancini says civilian users of Delair's other non-military drones 'see things that work in Ukraine and say to themselves, 'It resists jamming, it resists the loss of a radio connection and whatnot and so it's going to be fine for civilian use, like inspecting electric cables or whatever." 'It really has helped us win markets. It gives people confidence," he told The Associated Press at the Paris Air Show, a major shop-window for the aviation and defense industries. 'Drones saved Ukraine' Henri Seydoux, the founder and head of French drone maker Parrot, says Ukraine is 'fascinating' from a drone-technology perspective because 'it changes so quickly, there are new ideas non-stop.' He's been making regular trips since the start of Russia 's full-scale invasion in February 2022 to meet Ukrainian drone manufacturers, drone software developers and the military authorities. 'Every quarter, the situation changes completely,' he said in an interview. 'Every company, let's say, that makes military equipment or every army is very interested by drones. But the ones that really use them and understand how to use them is the Ukrainians." For Ukraine, trying to defend against swarms of Russian drones that target cities and waves of drone-supported Russian troops is a matter of survival. So, too, is finding workarounds to counter electronic warfare systems that Russia deploys to jam and disable Ukrainian drones, igniting what has become a drone-technology arms race between the two sides and for manufacturers outside of Ukraine, too. Small drones that drop bombs and explode against targets — mass-produced at a fraction of the cost of other more complex weapons systems that its allies have supplied — have become increasingly vital for Ukraine's resistance. Its Defense Ministry has said that it plans to buy 4.5 million drones this year, all Ukrainian-made, that allow their operators to see what the machines see, so they can guide the flights in real time — exploding in a Russian trench, for example, or even against a single enemy soldier. That's three times more drones than the ministry bought last year, it says. 'Drones saved Ukraine,' said Alex Vorobei, the Ukrainian sales representative for Ailand Systems, a Ukrainian start-up developing a drone that detects land mines. Vorobei and others in the drone business say that manufacturers not involved in Ukraine risk being left behind. 'If you're in the defense field and still not in Ukraine, it means you are nowhere," Vorobei said at the Paris show. Civilian uses for Ukrainian lessons A micro surveillance drone unveiled by Parrot at the Paris show has a nod to Ukraine in its name — the Anafi UKR — and also has been field-tested in what Seydoux describes as the 'very harsh environment' on the frontline. It's equipped with artificial intelligence technology to enable it to find its way when radio and navigational signals are jammed. Parrot says the drone's ready-for-war resilience and features also make it a good fit for law enforcement operations, such as monitoring crowds, tracking suspects or keeping watch over borders, and for rescue services in remote areas or during fires and accidents when navigational signals might go down. Ukraine has been 'a real laboratory or test for us, to see if our products worked,' said Delair's Mancini. Its Oskar exploding drone, which has polystyrene wings, carries a half-kilogram (one pound) warhead to detonate against troops and lightly armored vehicles. Delair developed it in under a year, repurposing one of its civilian drones that was already used in France for mapping and inspecting power cables, and hardening it for Ukraine with technology to resist Russian jamming. "Five or 10 years ago, lots of people were asking themselves, 'Are drones really useful for something?' No one is asking that question today," he said. ___
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fans claim the 'game's GONE' as Mexican side deploy never-before-seen tactic at the Club World Cup
Fans have called out the use of a unique tactic at the Club World Cup, insisting it shows the 'game's gone'. Serie A giants Inter Milan faced Mexican outfit Monterrey in California earlier this week in the opening game of the tournament for both teams. With the match level at 1-1, Inter were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area, and Monterrey opted to deploy a never-before-seen tactic to defend it. Rather than putting up one wall, they set up a double wall with four players in each, while leaving a gap in the middle for the goalkeeper to get a clear view of the ball. The unusual setup worked as Inter failed to score from the set-piece, but most fans on social media were having none of it. 'Game's gone', commented one Instagram user after TNT Sports posted a photo of the double wall on their official account. One fan claimed the never-before-seen tactic was a sign that the 'game's gone' Another supporter described the double wall as 'woke nonsense' but Inter failed to score One Instagram user was thoroughly unimpressed by the double wall, branding it 'stupid' Another claimed Inter should have just passed the ball to one of their open players 'Woke nonsense', added another, while one fan simply wrote: 'This is stupid'. Meanwhile, one supporter insisted Inter had an easy solution at their disposal to the double wall that contained eight Monterrey players in total. 'So many open players to pass to,' they pointed out. However, the new tactic was not universally condemned as one fan replied on Instagram: 'Every team should do it'. The game ended up finishing 1-1 as Monterrey secured a hard-earned point. They had taken the lead through a header from Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos, but Inter equalised thanks to Lautaro Martinez. Monterrey have two more group games to come against River Plate and Urawa Red Diamonds, and it remains to be seen if they will deploy the double wall again. It is not the only unusual incident that has taken place at the Club World Cup this week. In a separate match between Uslan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns, South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was penalised for holding onto the ball for longer than eight seconds. Refereeing chiefs announced plans to clamp down on time-wasting by goalkeepers prior to the tournament, and Williams was caught out as Ulsan were awarded a corner for his infringement.
