Essay of italian soccer by www.beppegrillo.it

[ITALIAN VERSION, ENGLISH VERSION BELOW]

Cos’è oggi il calcio? Nel migliore dei casi è come il wrestling. Si sa prima chi vince, chi deve retrocedere. Chi partecipa alle coppe europee. Calciopoli è come se non fosse mai esistita. La vittoria dei Mondiali l’ha cancellata. Sembra ormai una storia dei tempi di Meazza, di Piola. Rimangono alcune interviste, quasi imbarazzanti per il loro candore, di Rossi che vuole riformare il calcio. Poveretto, nessuno gli ha ancora detto nulla. Lui crede veramente di fare il commissario.
In questa situazione la Juve in A è un dovere, sarebbe l’unica a pagare per il ‘Calcio Truman Show' a cui abbiamo assistito. Prima però deve risarcire fino all’ultimo centesimo tutti coloro che hanno comprato le sue azioni. Abbiamo pagato soldi veri alla Rai e a Sky per vedere partite finte. Comprato biglietti per assistere a delle sceneggiate. I soldi almeno ce li devono dare indietro. Altro che abbonamenti per la prossima stagione e rinnovo di Sky. Perchè la Rai e Sky non fanno causa a nome dei loro utenti alle squadre di calcio?
E la vittoria dell’Inter a tavolino? Una squadra senza intercettazioni che aveva tronchetti, presidente di Telecom, come azionista. E’ una contraddizione in termini.

[ENGLISH VERSION]

What is football today? At its best it’s like wrestling. You know beforehand who is going to win and who is going to go down. Who’s going to participate in the European Cups. It’s as though Calciopoli {recent football scandal} never existed. The victory in the World Cup has obliterated it. In fact it seems like a story of the times of Meazza, of Piola.

A few interviews remain, almost embarrassing for their candour, in which Rossi wants to reform football. Poor man! No one has yet said anything to him. He truly believes that he is acting as a commissioner.

In this situation having Juve in Serie A is a duty. It would be the only one to pay for the Football Truman Show that we have watched. However before that it must pay back down to the last cent all those who bought their shares. We have paid real money to RAI and to Sky to see pretend matches.

Tickets have been purchased to see staged performances. They should at least give us back our money. It’s much more than about season tickets for next season and renewing Sky. Why don’t RAI and Sky take out a court action against the football teams in the name of their viewers?

And the desk-calculated victory of Inter? A team without phone taps that had Tronchetti, the Telecom president as a shareholder. It’s a contradiction in terms.
Matarrese, as the head of the Lega Calcio has been nominated the Guarantor of the change. His first statement was: we’ll give football back to “those who know it”. Moggi phoned him straight away.

The teams are quoted on the Stock Exchange, the money of the sponsors, the TV income. It’s no longer young men that come out onto the football field but banknotes with legs. Fake banknotes. So, well, Long Live Italy, but above all it’s a shame for Ghana.