Inter President Steven Zhang says the decision to play games behind closed doors is the right move for “public safety,” and that the financial losses incurred by the closures are “not important.”
Zhang has been critical of the Lega Serie A’s constant flip-flopping in regards to fixtures, and so went as far as to call the President of the league Paolo Dal Pino a “clown.”
Zhang gave an interview to the CGTN channel in his native China and talked about the Coronavirus in Italy.
Inter President Steven Zhang says the decision to play games behind closed doors is the right move for “public safety,” and that the financial losses incurred by the closures are “not important.”
Zhang has been critical of the Lega Serie A’s constant flip-flopping in regards to fixtures, and so went as far as to call the President of the league Paolo Dal Pino a “clown.”
Zhang gave an interview to the CGTN channel in his native China and talked about the Coronavirus in Italy.
“Obviously, everyone is taking the extra measure as a company. As a sports organisation that has a great responsibility to society, we must make sure that everyone understands how safety and public health are the most critical and important thing,” Zhang told the broadcaster.
“We, from our experience in China, having our main business there, seeing how employees and managers in China are experiencing a marked improvement after critical moments, have learned a lot of things, and want to combat this situation in Italy.”
Serie A is now set to play three weeks' worth of games behind closed doors, and Zhang says it’s the correct call.
“Definitely, having a closed stadium will make the spectacle less beautiful, just as the impact on revenues will also suffer. However overall, a club, faced with such a situation, cannot think too much about these factors because we believe that once the virus situation is overcome, fan confidence will be restored.”
Zhang then touched on Suning’s investment at Inter.
“For Suning, building a bridge and bringing quality products from China and introducing these products to the Chinese market is a job that we are all pursuing.
“To have a football club as a bridge helps us a lot. Secondly, learning from the best is one of the things that we always have to do. In European football and Italian football their technical ability and coaches are at a high level.
“These are things that we in China are still missing at the moment.”
China has been rumoured to be plotting a bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
“Organising an international sporting event in China is a goal not only for citizens, but also for many organisations and people around the world.
“With resources in China, entertainment and the energy that China has, it could represent a benefit not only at a national level, but also in the world, in all types of businesses.