Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo has released a statement following yet more complaints from Roma coach Jose Mourinho. ‘It is obvious that the Lega does not do ‘favours’ to anyone, let alone go ‘against’ someone.’
It is hardly the first time that Mourinho has protested that the Lega Serie A scheduling damages his team, especially as they play on Thursdays in the Europa League, so would like to always have a Monday night Serie A match to follow that fixture.
When he went back on that in today’s press conference and reiterated his dissent, it peaked the interest of De Siervo.
“The Lega does not comment on the declarations of its coaches, unless these include accusations that threaten the credibility of the Serie A product,” read his statement.
“In these circumstances, after the game at San Siro, the Roma coach did not just limit himself to pointing out the scheduling was not idea, but even accused the Lega Serie A of wanting to damage his club.
“We were forced to intervene to defend the Lega, reiterating that we organise the calendar with professionalism and an equidistant approach. It is obvious that the Lega does not do ‘favours’ to anyone, let alone go ‘against’ someone.
“As is well known, the majority of Club revenue comes from television rights and the kick-off times of games are decided above all to ensure a maximum audience.
“This was a pointless controversy because, funnily enough, Inter-Roma was in the ideal scheduling and consequently registered the highest audience share of the Week 10 fixtures and the second highest audience share of the entire season.”