De Laurentiis: Fine teams who finish bottom

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is of the view that the Serie A should fine teams who finish bottom.

The Napoli supremo feels there is nothing romantic about smaller sides fighting for their lives with the likes of Frosinone always dropping out and returning to the top division.

“You finish first, you get €100m, for example,” he told the New York Times and cited via Football Italia.

“You finish second, you earn €50m, and so on. But if you finish last, you pay a fine.

“Frosinone [arrived in Serie A] already relegated. Clubs like Frosinone do not draw fans, or interest, or broadcasters to the League.

“They come up, they do not try to compete, and they go back down, except with their coffers stuffed by what he sees as an unwarranted share of the division’s television revenue.

“The problem is the small teams have the same rights as the big one. Why should Frosinone have a season in Serie A, be given a slice of the pagnotta and then be relegated back to the third division?

“If they cannot compete, if they finish last, they should have to pay a fine. They shouldn’t be given money for failing.

“Promotion and relegation is the biggest idiocy in soccer. Especially when you also have UEFA trying to force clubs to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

“Clubs should be structured geographically, so they can all be self-sufficient. If they cannot survive financially, if they cannot be self-sufficient, they should be booted out.”


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