CONI-govt spat over sports vigilance agency

A spat has broken out between the
Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), the governing body for sport
in Italy, and the government over reports of plans to set up an
economic and financial oversight agency for professional
sporting clubs.

   
In an interview with daily newspaper La Repubblica, CONI
President Giovanni Malagò complained that he had heard about the
plan from news reports and had only subsequently managed to get
a draft of it from the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC).

   
He said there risk of the move making Italy an international
embarrassment as it would amount to political interference in
the world of sport, especially soccer.

   
"I say this frankly. I have serious doubts about whether this
can be accepted by the international sporting bodies," Malagò
said.

   
Sport and Youth Minister Andrea Abodi hit back, stressing that
what Malagò had seen was only a draft and saying that the
"language used by the Coni president does not seem the most
formal considering the circumstances.

   
"We are all at the service of the general interest," the
minister said.

   

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