An amendment has been made to the controversial Growth Decree, aiming to discourage Italian football clubs packing their teams with foreign imports.
The law was introduced to help bring in new investment and talent from abroad, as well as stemming the brain drain, but also found itself applied to the world of sport.
It allows those who come in from abroad to have massive tax discounts on their salaries for three years after their moves.
Following Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the authorities were urged to change the rules that effectively make it cheaper and easier for clubs to fill their squads and youth academies with players brought in from outside of the Peninsula.
Today’s amendment hopes to change that, as it sets a limit meaning only those 20 years old and above can benefit from the tax breaks.
It can also no longer be used on salaries lower than €1m, although it is €500,000 for sports like basketball that only recently became professional in Italy.
The AIC (Italian Association of Football Players) declared it was ‘satisfied’ with the changes, although their President Umberto Calcagno hoped this would be “a first step and hopefully not the last.”