3 Italian Giants Betrayed Serie A, But Their Greed Is Not A Surprise

Paulo Dybala (Twitter @juventusfc)

JAKARTA - Sunday night's news that 12 elite clubs intended to form the European Super League resulted in more than just a shockwave. Club fans from all over the continent roiled and, for the rarest of opportunities, banded together.

The inclusion of Arsenal and Tottenham even sparked a joke. Meanwhile, AC Milan, who managed to make themselves recognized as an 'elite' - having not qualified for the Champions League since 2013 - raised eyebrows for some.

However, the Rossoneri's willingness to take part, as was the case at Juventus and Inter, should come as no surprise.

Launching MARCA, Tuesday, April 20, towards the end of 2020, analysis of the balance sheet of Serie A clubs shows that at least four of the 20 teams at the top level of Italy made profits during the previous decade, they are Atalanta, Sassuolo, Napoli and Crotone.

Napoli is, at some distance, the club in its healthiest financial situation for 10 years, earning more than 130 million euros since 2010, ending its financial years in the red zone only three times during that decade.

Atalanta, meanwhile, amassed more than 58 million euros in profits, on top of Crotone's 3.5 million euros and Sassuolo's 1.6 million euros.

Meanwhile, clubs that are said to be elite, namely the duo of Milan and Juventus, on the other hand, are still far from breaking even. Milan's losses reached an astounding 914 million euros, Inter lost 470 million euros and Juventus lost 281 million euros.

Deloitte's Football Money League, published in January, saw Juventus as the only Serie A representative in the top 10 with a turnover of 397.7. million euros.

Inter, in 14th, are the next highest-placed team in Italy with 291.5 million euros, while Napoli with 176.3 million euros place them as the only other team in the top 20, and they are placed lower than Schalke. Everton, Lyon and even Zenit Saint Petersburg.

It's no surprise, then, that the names of the most famous clubs in Serie A want to find a way to guarantee more revenue, and the European Super League is the way to do it.

The potential for the Super League is very lucrative, and the winners can receive nearly 400 million euros, which is nearly four times the 120 million euros awarded to Champions League winners.

Apart from that, there are more attractive offers to take part in the competition. So, without a relegation system, is there any other reason the businessmen in charge of these clubs say no?

Andrea Agnelli doesn't care about football. That was made clear when he questioned the validity of Atalanta, who finished third in Serie A two seasons in a row, getting a direct path to the group stages of the Champions League - a competition where they have gone one step further than Juventus.

Elliott Management Corporation doesn't care about AC Milan fans in Italy, and Suning Holdings Inter are desperate for funding after pulling their Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning from the competition.

The rich people in charge of football just want to keep getting richer, and they don't run the football business for the good of the game.

Although the Sunday news is discouraging, heartrending, and provocative of anger, this fact is not surprising.