Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Inter president: One more Italian football scandal and 'Serie A is dead'

Inter Milan president Erick Thohir has warned that one more scandal would be the death knell of Italian football.

The Indonesian businessman took control of the Serie A club last season in the hope he could lead change in the Italian game and restore Inter to a place among Europe's elite.

This season, the Nerazzurri are back in the Europa League after missing out on European football entirely last season, and Thohir hopes they will qualify for the Champions League next season.

However, aside from his aspirations for his own club, Thohir has warned of how fragile the Italian game is, and says action is needed to strengthen it.

"Serie A has to be more aggressive," he told CNN. "I specifically tell people if we do another Calciopoli, Serie A will be dead.

"Italy won't be number two, nor three, or even fourth. We will be ninth and lose ground to countries like Portugal and Holland."

The Calciopoli scandal in 2006 saw Juventus demoted to Serie B after it was ruled that they exerted pressure on referees and refereeing appointments, an act the Turin club continue to contest.

They are currently pursuing a claim of compensation of over 400 million euros against the Italian Football Association (FIGC) for lost revenue and further damages incurred by that scandal.

Further match-fixing scandals, problems with violence and a lack of success in Europe have also tainted the Italian game in recent years.

Thohir was not exclusively negative, though, suggesting there is a way to a better future.

"It's important to look at the world globally and not just Italy," added the 44-year-old. "The [other club] presidents are open-minded when we talk. A lot of things have to be done.

"The English Premier League has become bigger and bigger, but Serie A can become the second league in the world. We still have a good foundation and can compete with Germany's Bundesliga and Spain's La Liga.

"I'm not looking for personal success. It's more about how can I work hard, supported by my new team, to make Inter one of the top 10 clubs in the world. With a lot of support and the same vision, we can do it."

Italian clubs have at least made a promising start to the current season in Europe, accumulating more points than any other nation after the first two matchdays.

Should such results continue, Serie A is on course to cut the deficit on third-placed Germany in UEFA's five-year rankings by half next summer, allowing it to dream of recovering a fourth berth in the Champions League in the near future.

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