Seething Napoli chairman blasts 'stupid' Serie A TV deal and warns it will kill Italian football

Aurelio De Laurentiis has warned that Itaiian football will "die" after the league agreed a deal with DAZN and Sky to continue broadcasting games until 2029.

The furious Napoli chairman has described the deal as "stupid" and the broadcasting giants as "not competent," having been in favour of a new project that would see Serie A create it's own channel, with investors reportedly ready to fund it. But a meeting on Monday saw the Sky and DAZN bid voted through by 17 of the 20 clubs. Salernitana and Cagliari voted against, while Napoli abstained.

De Laurentiis called a press conference after the vote to share his anger and is understood to have interrupted Luigi De Siervo to slam the contract, which he insists devalues the sport in Italy as well as railing against the length of the agreement. He said: “It’s a loss for Italian football which will die with these offers.

"Sky and DAZN are not competent, they don’t do the good of Italian football. The value of our football must go through investments and fans are our absolute good.

“When I see packages that include Champions League, Serie A, TV series and shows, I don’t understand the real value of Italian football. DAZN sell Italian football alongside other sports. It was also stupid to make a five-year deal after reaching an agreement with Saudi Arabia, now that there is a war.

"Sky and DAZN are not making great investments. I was watching the Premier League the other day, Arsenal-Chelsea. Then I watched three Serie A matches. The shooting modes of our football are laughable, but these broadcasters have never told us. We keep talking about real stadiums, but we never think about virtual stadiums."