Less than four months after their World Cup triumph, Italy's top-flight attendances have reached their lowest ebb since 1970
Not even a World Cup triumph has reversed the decline. Just three and a half months after 500,000 fans poured onto the streets of Rome to acclaim Marcello Lippi's side, attendances in Italy's top flight have dropped to their lowest since 1970 - an average of just 19,511 after seven games. That's barely half the Premiership average of 34,084 so far this season, and only marginally better than the Championship's 17,368. Perhaps most worrying of all, it also represents an 8.7% fall on the same period last season.
The figures are shocking, inconceivable in a country where football has always been so intrinsic to the national psyche, and where a ticket for next week's Milan derby - one of the biggest on the European calendar - can be bought for as little as 14 euros. The gut reaction is to blame the drop-off on this summer's other events, namely the match-fixing scandal which undermined years of supporters' financial and emotional investment in their clubs. Things are not so simple. Serie A attendances have been on the slide since the 1997-98 season. At worst Calciopoli accelerated an existing trend.
As former Italy manager Arrigo Sacchi points out in his column in today's La Gazzetta Dello Sport the current predicament is far too complex to be attributed to a single cause. Fans have to contend with stadiums that are "tired, obsolete, inhospitable and structured like the Colosseum", points out Sacchi, as well as the increased presence of violent, often racist Ultras, who make life miserable for moderate fans and "would not have a place in any part of civilised Europe". The clubs themselves have alienated supporters, argues Sacchi, not only by fixing matches (the Calciopoli scandal is not the first - Genoa were relegated for a similar offence in 2004), but also by faking passports for players and repeatedly mismanaging their finances, with a succession of clubs having gone bankrupt only to rise from the dead under a minimally changed name.
If ever there was a time for Italian football to get its act together and make a concerted effort to win back the fans, then it must be now, in the post-Moggi climate, where everything is still up for grabs. Sadly, with the unifying force of the World Cup already fading from memory, it already looks like another missed opportunity.
why star sports serie a always show torino?? it's not like they're a big club....
italian stadiums are too huge, and even have the running track around it. feels like a national stadium, there's not much atmosphere to speak of. the english club stadium may be smaller but they fit the purpose of it, seats go right up to the pitch. The spanish stadiums also cannot make it. I can't even be bothered to watch italian and spanish soccer matches, unless its champs league
somemore no more juventus now........
recently i've seen scores like 3-3, 5-3.....
very suspicious.....
