Tomorrow the League is planning another assembly “distant but united” (always distant by nature and cash). For this I tried to get into the head of Dal Pino, the 57-year-old president who has been facing the biggest crisis in Italian football since the post-war period for just over two months. I know some things about him, I read others. I summarize them: at the age of 24, after graduating in Economics at the University of Pavia, Paolo Dal Pino joined Fininvest (curiosity: he is a friend of Maria De Filippi, everything makes curriculum, his neighbor and sparring partner in tennis). It stands out immediately. Ties bonds of trust and friendship with the main Italian entrepreneurial and industrial figures: from Berlusconi to De Benedetti, from Tronchetti Provera to Pellicioli, without neglecting one of the most powerful bankers from 82 to 2000, Cesare Geronzi. Other stages of the Dal Pino tour: financial director of the Dutch subsidiary Verkerke (Mondadori), he conquers significant spaces in the Republic and more generally in the Espresso Group (today Gedi). He remained there from 1990 to 2001 inventing repubblica.it (’96) and Kataweb (’99), the cult portal in the pre-bubble years of the new economy valued at six thousand billion lire by Unicredit, which detects 5% for 305 billion in as a function of the listing on the Stock Exchange, however never made. In the 2000s, he put the disastrous Seat Pagine Gialle back in profit and managed to sell it to private equity funds for 5.6 billion euros. Married to Cristina, daughter of a diplomat based in Brazil, he lets his wife convince him and leaves the Dutch fund that controlled Endemol (Big Brother, The Proof of the Cook, MasterChef) for his Brasil brasileiro. Tronchetti Provera entrusts him with the business, first the telephone one and then the tire one, in one of the most important and strategic markets in the world. In Rio, of which he is an honorary citizen, he tightens a strong bond with the ex-powerful Lula, to the point of bringing him to Italy in March 2014 as guest of honor of the Pirelli Board of Directors. In the telephone sector Dal Pino is a sort of guru, having held a leading role in Wind, the third largest operator on the Italian market, merged with H3G-3Italia. Dal Pino has two children, Giacomo and Sebastian, home in Rio and ambitious – let’s say – wooden projects (a mahogany forest in Caatinga, northeastern Brazil). After the facts and some crossed characters, the thoughts and considerations that interest us most.
What will Serie A presidents discuss tomorrow?
They must set the agenda for the most urgent interventions, but considering all the variables: very short, short, medium and long distance. Or restart in May (unlikely), in June (possible), in July (realistic) or even early closure of the season.
In the event that the season lasts until July (discounted), how will we deal with the presentation of the company financial statements as at 30 June and with the contracts of players that expire on that same date? Is an extension measure conceivable?
The extension is one of the topics under discussion: Andrea Agnelli was among the first to request it. But Galliani also spoke about it during the interview given to our newspaper considering it inevitable. The praise of the former Milan CEO met with Dal Pino’s approval; the obstacle difficult to circumvent, the economic urgencies of some clubs.
The health emergency makes it essential that we start playing again when the health risks are definitively resolved. Has the League hypothesized, perhaps in concert with the Federation, to set up a scientific-health task force to monitor the situation? Given the seriousness of the case, will a sort of license also be issued?
On this point, unanimity is almost guaranteed.
The economic stress caused by the emergency puts the revenue of the clubs and the League itself at risk. Is a general downsizing possible, or is the League planning a revival when normal conditions return? Can you think of an action of solidarity of the main League towards those of lower rank, which risk registering a club death?
Even the downsizing is inevitable, at the moment no solidarity action is foreseen towards the lower leagues, since they are autonomous realities from many points of view. Mutuality, including parachutes, will also be reviewed soon.
The stop could induce a re-discussion of seasonality, which, moreover, was already to be planned in view of the 2022 World Cup that will take place in Qatar during the winter. Would it be conceivable to redesign the calendar immediately, perhaps bringing it to 2023 with a calendar that would cover the calendar year, instead of the traditional summer-spring period? According to some presidents (Cellino in the head: he said yesterday) the championship must start again in August / September as it began last August. This resolution could soon be voted, 18 out of 20 clubs are in favor. Same thing for the cups but an agreement with UEFA is needed. The one-year shift of Euro 2020 should obviously also entail that of the Qatar World Cup.
In the event that the championship does not start again, would the positions after the twenty-sixth day, the last played, be considered valid?
Gravina is against the freezing of the classification, retrocessions and promotions. The FIGC, unlike the League, is an association recognized from a legal / corporate point of view. However, the directors are also jointly and severally liable for the obligations assumed. At a legal entity level, the risk for Gravina before a lawsuit for damages caused to him, which I know, by the president of Benevento, who would lose several million without the now virtual promotion, is low. But the tendency towards prudence will be greatest.
What are the club positions?
In recent times a sort of sharing of problems and solutions has been found, less fragile than in the past and above all substantial. The most combative and distant presidents from the positions of the majority are of course Lotito and, for different reasons, De Laurentiis. Dal Pino is however convinced that the two bring elements of evaluation and functional exceptions to a global vision of the situation.
Is the league also thinking about the Italian cup?
At the moment the hypothesis of the postponement of semi-finals and fi nals in August is the most concrete. After all, these are three dry games involving four teams: Juve, Milan, Inter and Napoli. Together, they account for 60% of the turnover of the Serie A.
Which companies are most at risk?
Not all clubs have insurmountable problems. The most complicated cases are those of the Genoese since, in addition to a disheartening classification, they have owners in great business difficulties: Preziosi (Genoa) who before the lockdown was close to the stock market listing of the companies, is found with all the points of sale closed; Ferrero, who had gone to the composition with creditors in January to try to save the business of Farvem Real Estate (real estate) and Eleven Finance (cinema), saw the situation worsen considerably.
Does Dal Pino convey optimism or do you think the season cannot be completed?
He is the man of big but achievable dreams, he realizes the gravity of the moment and does not seem convinced that we can start again in May, nor in June. It is understood that for those who are able to obtain Dal Pino mahogany, nothing is impossible.
