Futbol Chronicles: Proposed Lega Calcio A Positive for Italian Football

AC Milan's struggle to hold onto Kaka was highlighted by the fact that the club couldn't afford to pass up an opportunity to cash in on their star player.

The club currently was undergoing difficult financial circumstances, one of which forced Silvio Berlusconi's hand, therefore allowing football rival Real Madrid to sign the talented Brazilian midfielder for a stunning sum of over 65 million Euros.

Of course, the rate of the transfer is generously high, but the fact that Madrid were willing to pay that much for Kaka only shows what Milan would go through had it not decided sell Kaka in the first place.

Kaka's departure is surely a huge loss for Italian football, but more importantly, it puts further doubt about the legitimacy of Italy's top flight.

Italian football has gone through it's hits and misses before, but the recent news of the country's top clubs deciding to split away from Serie B to form their own top league only intensified the problems that have awaited Italian football for some time.

Violent fan riots, declining revenues, smaller stadium crowds, loss of star talent, and an lack of stadium control were among the many factors that led to 19 0f the 20 clubs representing Serie A to break away from the current league structure in the first place.

Italian clubs also faced the realization of losing star talent because players were tired of the boring play on the field, and because of the burdening tax laws that clubs were forced to work under.

The proposed breakaway league, known as Lega Calcio Serie A, aims to revert those problems in some way.

The new league is designed to give clubs the power to control their revenue streams, unlike the current Serie A league that forces top flight clubs to a revenue sharing system with lower league participants.

Those who advocate Lega Calcio believe that it will help Italian football compete with that of the English Premier League and the Spanish Premiera. However, the issue of stadium control, taxes, player development rules, and scheduling would still have to be sorted out even if a new league were to start operations now.

Those against the newly promoted league argue that the top clubs have done this only on the basis of protecting their self interests, and that they barely complained about the revenue sharing process during Serie A's golden years not so long ago.

Perhaps they are right; however, the whole issue could be resolved entirely if the Italian Football Association were to intervene in the matter and force the top flight clubs to play in the current Serie A, but so far, the FA have shown no intention of doing so.

Another factor that may come into play would be the new attraction that the new Lega Calcio could provide to foreign talent. The new league concept wouldn't necessarily be looked at as a sure thing, considering that a new league usually takes time to mature into a top league in terms of quality and management.

Questions that would arise from prospect of a new league would be: Would local television networks be willing to support the new league? And if so, would clubs demand a greater share of television revenue under the new league structure?

Are football supporters going to be enthusiastic enough to actually tune into the new league and actually attend the games? Would the league actually go as far as to helping the Azzuri's fortunes in terms of tournament play?

And most important of all, would this newly proposed league financially be able to compete with rival leagues such as La Liga and English Premier League?

Only time will tell whether Lega Calcio becomes a business and football success, only time will tell if Italian football can finally dust itself off, pick itself up, and begin the process of remaking itself...as a serious football power.