Italians count cost of scandals

ITALIAN football’s ambitious plans to reform and rebuild faced an uncertain future after their lost bid to host Euro 2012.

Italy’s great footballing tradition, world-famous stadiums, and excellent record of organising sporting events like the 1990 World Cup, made them many people’s favourites to win the vote, which was made by UEFA’s executive committee in Cardiff.

The headline on the front of Wednesday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport summed up Italians’ confidence of success: “(Michel) Platini will give us Euro 2012,” it read.

Instead, the UEFA president announced a joint Poland/Ukraine bid as the winner.

Of course, there was always the seamier side of Italian football to consider. Last year’s Serie A match-fixing scandal and the death of policeman Filippo Raciti in rioting at a game in February had dragged the image of the sport through the mire.

But Poland also had a match-fixing scandal and Raciti’s death was followed by a new anti-hooligan law and a promise to train stewards to ensure security inside grounds.

Italy’s bid was also founded on a plan to renovate several of its most famous grounds, including Milan’s San Siro and Rome’s Olympic Stadium, plus the construction of three new grounds in Turin, Naples, and Palermo.

The head of the Italian Football Federation, Giancarlo Abete, said the decision to give Euro 2012 to Poland and Ukraine was politically motivated.

“All three candidates had what it took to win. Eastern Europe had never hosted the European Championship. That’s what it comes down to,” he said.

Others, however, said the chaos of the past year probably had something to do with Italy not winning the bid.

“We’ve created some embarrassing situations for the whole of world football,” said former Italy striker, now team manager for the Azzurri, Gigi Riva.

The head of Italy’s Football League, Antonio Matarrese, believed they could turn defeat to their advantage.

“It’s a defeat that will do us good — we’re coming out of one of the most terrible tragedies in the history of Italian football,” he said.

“This latest blow will force us into a thorough self-examination.”

The government has shown a determination to reform football, from its attempt to introduce collective bidding for TV rights, to the rapid formulation of a new anti-hooligan plan following Raciti’s death.

The country’s failure to get the European Championship, however, leaves the timetable for change — especially the structural works — uncertain.

A winning bid would have given the federation, the government and the clubs a set of deadlines for stadium renovations, which UEFA had asked to be completed by June 2010.

But now, of the three proposed new stadia, only the new Delle Alpi stadium in Turin, which would be part-funded by Juventus, looks certain to go ahead. The others in Naples and Palermo could be put on ice, particularly now that there is no longer the prospect of a glamorous Euro 2012 stage to showcase them.