The president of Italy’s top football league has warned that foreign buyers of clubs must avoid the temptation of prioritising quick profits over long-term investment, as investors continue to pour capital into the sport.
Serie A president Lorenzo Casini, who was elected to the role in March, said he welcomed the arrival of foreign club owners and their expertise in sports but expressed concern that short-term goals could trump the wider needs of the league as a whole, such as improving Italy’s creaking stadiums.
“From the league perspective, the fear that you might have is that sometimes you have someone coming and thinking OK in three, four, five years I will do this, this and this,” Casini told the Financial Times. “And then you discover that this is not feasible.”