Italy to appoint committee to oversee finances of professional sports clubs

ROME : The Italian government was set to appoint a committee of experts on Friday to oversee the finances of professional sports clubs, a draft decree seen by Reuters showed ahead of a cabinet meeting expected to give a green light to the plan.

The committee will oversee "the legality and regularity of the economic and financial management of professional sports clubs" in sports such as soccer and basketball, to ensure they are properly managed and sustainable, the draft showed.

It will ensure "the regularity of the economic and financial management of professional sports clubs" by issuing opinions which may lead to measures concerning "admission, participation and exclusion" of the clubs from professional competitions.

The body will check on the documents provided by clubs to participate in the competitions and by April 30 it will issue an opinion on whether they should be admitted to the following sporting season.

The proposals - still subject to change - have echoes of plans to appoint an independent regulator for English soccer.

A broader sports decree including the committee - made up of six members and a president - will be approved at a cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday. Parliament will be allowed to amend it before converting it into law within 60 days.

Giorgia Meloni's government plans to create a watchdog to oversee professional sports club finances sparked outrage this month among top sports officials, concerned that such measures could pave the way for political interference in their business.

The government said at the time there was clear room to improve clubs finances and too many debts had been written off in the last years due to poor management.