COMMENT
By Kris Voakes | Italian Football Editor
Many eyebrows were raised in late-July when the 2011-12 Serie A calendar was revealed. It had nothing to do with who played who on opening day, nor the timing of the Milan or Rome derbies, and the final day pairings were the last thing on people’s minds. Instead it was the decision to again schedule a midweek round at the end of January that had many talking.
While last season’s 23rd round went ahead unscathed, it was a shivering collection of supporters that made their way to the 10 Serie A grounds, and it surprised many that the Lega Serie A were willing to push their luck again this year. Many players from the top flight expressed surprise that midweek evening fixtures would once more be forced on them, with Fiorentina’s Valon Behrami raising the issue once more on Twitter earlier this week.
But after only six games went ahead due to the snow this week, and Inter’s home game against Palermo played in farcical icy conditions which put players at risk, there are a number of issues which need to be looked into for the same situation not to arise in future seasons.
The first problem came in terms of the lack of protection against the elements. Four games fell to the inclement weather and at least one other should have gone with them. In every case, the only thing used to protect the pitch from the snow was a series of tarpaulin sheets. In the 21st century, this is frankly ridiculous.
It hardly takes the brightest or most scientific of minds to realise that the tarps are completely ineffective. Allowing the snow to settle on the huge strips is little more preventative than leaving the turf uncovered and crossing your fingers. The white stuff is too much for these sheets, meaning that when tractors or brushes are used to clear the tarps and unveil the pitch, all that remains is an icy surface ill-equipped for top class football.
Handheld snow blowers do little more than clear the surface snow, making the pitch look greener but doing nothing to thaw the grass underfoot. The widespread lack of undersoil heating – brought about because of the local authorities’ ownership of most stadiums – needs to be addressed.
It was clear from around 15.00 on Tuesday that the match between Parma and Juventus was going to be a victim to the weather, yet it somehow took until after 19.00 for the inevitable decision to be confirmed.
Then on Wednesday we had the bizarre situation whereby the Atalanta-Genoa clash was called a no-go just 15 minutes before the scheduled 18.00 start, only for the judgement to be reversed. A pitch inspection was then made a full 30 minutes after the intended kick-off time, at which point the few fans to have braved the weather were put out of their misery.
Such a lack of common sense and blatant disregard for supporters is absolutely mind-boggling. Supporters had trekked through snowy, slippery and often icy conditions on the streets of Parma and Bergamo to find they would just have to turn back again without seeing their sides in action.
That the games were called off was completely understandable. That nobody was willing to go ahead and make an immediate decision when conditions were clearly not suitable is unforgivable. It is no coincidence that both of these games were due to get sole TV coverage across the country. Fans need to come first, not bank balances.
PATHETIC IGNORANCE OF THE FANS' INTERESTS
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“We could have played the game at 15:00,” said Juve coach Antonio Conte after the Parma clash was called off on Tuesday. Yes, Antonio … Brilliant idea. Why not alienate the fans some more just after they have been royally shafted?
As if it was not enough to be dragged out to the stadium through the snow then sent straight back home, the Bianconeri boss was proposing that in future it should be made even more difficult for supporters to attend their teams’ games.
If matches that were under threat were suddenly all changed to midweek afternoon kick-offs, it would be all too easy for Serie A to be treated with as much contempt as the Coppa Italia, which has countless later-round fixtures rearranged to late-afternoon starts.
The last thing a league with dwindling attendances and supporter apathy, plus a sense of contempt towards those who attend, should be considering is midweek afternoon kick-offs. Conte’s claims were scandalous when placed into this context.
This should not be seen as a personal attack on Conte though, his words were simply a reflection on the general disregard for supporters, completely out of place though they were.
ANCIENT UNCOVERED TERRACES
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Another thing which makes supporters not want to bother turning up is the rickety state of some of the stadiums around the country. At some there remain temporary standing areas which have been in place for a number of years, rusting away under rain and snow, while there are swathes of uncovered terracing at 11 of the 18 current Serie A venues.
In the spring, summer and even autumn, this hardly qualifies as a problem, with most fans basking in the warm seasonal weather in front of the national sport. But in winter, it is a different story entirely.
Italy has a very distinct climate, particularly in the north of the country. In the summer it is generally very hot, but in the winter it can be unbearably cold. Even on Thursday night, as Novara faced up to Chievo at the Stadio Silvio Piola, the remnants of two days’ worth of snow made the terraces an unforgiving place to be despite the artificial pitch allowing for the clash to be played as scheduled.
With each new announcement of plans for a new home venue for a Serie A club comes the hope that the Juventus Stadium blueprint will be followed. It is the least the fans deserve if they are to be expected to continue braving near-arctic conditions for two months of the season.
WINTER BREAK LENGTH & TIMING
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It is high time that the timing of the winter break is looked at. Two seasons ago, the break came one week too late, with a freezing cold weekend preceding the seasonal closedown. But most years it is during January that the worst of the weather arrives.
Now, it is impossible to arrange the season around a weather forecast six months in advance, but more must be done to ensure that the winter break serves its initial purpose. These days it is used as a good chance to rake in a few extra euros with a trip to the likes of Dubai, while also giving the players Christmas off.
But the supposed reason for a winter break is the avoidance of playing in the most inclement weather conditions, and to that end, a change in timing should be looked at. The final weekend of 2009 was largely bearable, but for the decision to go ahead with an Inter v Lazio evening kick-off played in -12C weather.
That particular issue could have been avoided had the game been scheduled as one of the afternoon matches, when the temperature had yet to drop below zero, with one of the southern teams hosting the evening game (Roma’s home fixture that day kicked off at 15.00 in 10C sunshine).
In most years, it is during January that Italy will have its coldest, snowiest weather, meaning a winter break from mid to late January is likely to result in more fixtures going ahead as planned. With more consideration offered to southern teams hosting evening matches at either side of such a break, this would all result in more games remaining unaffected by the weather.
A three to four week break during January would surely be more effective than the current situation, at least until there are more venues suitable for hosting winter fixtures.
A longer winter break would, of course, mean squeezing the calendar elsewhere. As already outlined, the intense summer heat makes for similarly uncomfortable viewing midway through the year, so the idea of extending the league season into June with largely evening fixtures is not necessarily a goer, even before taking into account any objections Uefa would have to such a decision.
So it begs the question as to what else can be done, and the reduction of Serie A fixtures is one idea which arises. As a huge enthusiast of the Italian game, this writer would be the last person to ask for less matches normally, but the quality of football and playing conditions would surely both increase markedly if the calendar is shortened to 34 rounds.
Serie A was only extended to a 38-game season due to the Caso Catania of 2004, and had nothing at all to do with preserving or increasing the quality of the product. There are too many teams in the top flight sitting in a comfort zone for long spells of the campaign these days, with at least one club invariably becoming stranded at the bottom of the standings.
The lack of competitiveness of teams 19 and 20 needs to be addressed. This could combine with the need to relieve the pressure on referees, TV companies and the game’s authorities to get games played in January - all forcing the Lega Serie A’s hand over reducing the size of the top flight.
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