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NAPLES, ITALY – DECEMBER 12: Aurelio De Laurentiis SSC Napoli President during the UEFA Champions League match between SCC Napoli and SC Braga at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on December 12, 2023 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis strongly criticises UEFA and FIFA, saying their distribution of money isn’t correct and taunting ‘king’ Gianni Infantino: ‘Perhaps, he wants to be in the White House instead of Trump.’
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Napoli owner De Laurentiis shared his view on Football in an interview with CBS Sports.
De Laurentiis: Football ‘must be renewed’
The Partenopei President has been calling for drastic rule changes and a different organisation under FIFA and UEFA, aiming, among other things, to reduce the number of games.
“Football is too old and needs to be renewed. New generations are very fast with smartphones; they have passion, but they are not passionate,” he said.
“They can’t watch a match for two hours. If they go to a real stadium, fantastic, but on TV, there is a [half-time] break, which I don’t understand.
“It should be 25 minutes, plus 25 minutes, for a total of 50 minutes, played consecutively, like in basketball, with real time.
“This is business, entertainment,” he continued.
“Agents seem to be the owners of football. Bullshit. Agents must be people who provide a service, not people who blackmail or ask for a lot of money… for what? Just to send a contract and then disappear?”
The Napoli President insisted that Serie A should bereduced to 16 teams, as he already claimed in the wake of Italy’s World Cup play-off Final defeat.
“In 1996, there were just 16 teams in Serie A, but the number of matches has increased now,” ADL reiterated.
“Everyone wants medals. UEFA wants to make more money, so they make the Champions League longer. Then the king, Infantino, arrived. Perhaps, he wants to be in the White House instead of Trump. He made a Club World Cup.
“Players can’t be involved in 70 games per season. How can they resist? Modric is 40, a fantastic player. But if you ask him to play 70 games per game, he’d say absolutely no.
“UEFA makes too much money, and FIFA makes too much money. They say they distribute that money, but it’s not done correctly. If we make all the analysis, they are lying, they don’t tell the truth.”
De Laurentiis also reiterated that clubs need financial protection from FIFA and UEFA in the event their players are injured.
“I’ve been pushing for many years to bring Serie A back to 16 teams rather than 20. Reduce the number of matches so that you have at least two months during the season to train the national team. Number two: Why don’t they do insurance? Why shouldn’t UEFA and FIFA provide insurance, in case a player gets injured and can’t play anymore with the club? If a player can’t play for a year, they must pay you to buy a similar player.
“Do they want our players? They must pay. If I pay a player a €10m salary and they keep him for a month, they need to give me €1m. Why for free? It’s my property, not their property. There’s this strange situation in sports. Are we an industry or not?”
Napoli have won two Serie A titles in the last three seasons, first under Luciano Spalletti in 2022-23 and then under Antonio Conte in 2024-25.
They currently sit second in the league table, seven points below table leaders Inter.
ByLorenzo Bettoni
Lorenzo Bettoni is the Editor of Football Italia.
