Lega Serie A have released a statement in response to the accusations of censorship from former Milan director Paolo Maldini as the feud over his tell-all interview rumbles on.
On May 9th, the legendary ex-defender opened up about his playing career, his time as a director and acrimonious exit from the Rossoneri in a long interview with journalist Alessandro Alciato on Radio Serie A, the official radio channel of the Italian topflight.
A day later, Alciato suggested he was pressured not to broadcast the interview, sharing his frustration. On Tuesday afternoon, Maldini released a statement through his lawyer Danilo Buongiorno complaining of censorship, threatening possible legal action as a result.
Lega Serie A respond to Maldini
In a statement released today, Lega Serie A have responded to Maldini and his lawyer Buongiorno, challenging the accusations of censorship, trying to explain why it was briefly unlisted on YouTube before again being released publicly.
“With reference to an alleged ‘censorship’ of the interview with Paolo Maldini broadcast on ‘Radio Serie A with RDS’, the Lega Serie A specifies in a statement that the news spread is false as the full interview was broadcast twice on the radio on May 9th and, immediately, the complete draft of the same was sent to all the journalistic editorial offices so that they could have a full understanding of it.
“The claim that there was pressure not to broadcast the interview does not correspond to the truth either, as it is easy to verify since the publication depends only on the League itself.
“This interview, after being broadcast in full on the radio and after the most significant excerpts had been published on the League’s official social networks, was also published, again in its entirety, on the Serie A YouTube channel, where it remained until the afternoon.
“Following of many negative comments, aimed also at the protagonist of the interview, the Lega Serie A, in total editorial autonomy and in compliance with a typical practice in the management of social channels and normally adopted in the past to limit similar negative sentiments, had placed the aforementioned interview in ‘unlisted’ mode.
“On Friday morning, as soon as the controversy subsided, the interview was accessible again on the League’s official YouTube channel where it can still be viewed in full today.”