Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis took aim at CONI President Giovanni Malago and FIGC President Gabriele Gravina for standing by the non-EU player rule. The current law allows for Serie A sides to sign just two non-EUJ players per season, but speaking at a press conference for the unveiling of new SD Mauro Meluso, De Laurentiis offered his reasoning for why the rules should be changed in future:
“Why are we fishing less from South America? Because of the Bossi-Fini law, the one on non-EU nationals. By the way, England used to be part of Europe and now its not. It should be pointed out to the League, then to Malagò and Gravina.
“We are the only country that can only bring two extra-community players. It would be nice to have a dialogue together with you and it should be very interesting. CONI has the possibility to have X for sports and extra-community members. Malagò should be asked to step aside, since football funds all Italian sports. So let’s get a few more players, still respecting the Bossi-Fini Law. Then the laws are never changed. There is an overlap that slows down the whole mechanism. Clubs cannot follow their own path, because too many things prevent you from doing business.”