Italian Football : Shakeout Continues

A few years ago Fiorentina went bankrupt. They folded. Some new owners sunk some cash into a new club Fiorentina Viola and got things rolling in the Serie C-2 in Italy. As things things go, this was due to the league ruling they didn't need a start things off in the Serie D. The new team got promoted to Serie C-1 and then were able to buy a spot in the Serie B. They're back in the Serie A now and back to being just plain old Fiorentina after buying the rights to the old name and colors. So it's ironic that what should've been a warning to other Italian clubs, to keep their financial house in order or they'll go belly up, wasn't heeded. Both Napoli and Ancona were recently denied licenses by the Italian Football Federation to play in the Serie B (the 2nd division) for the season that starts Sept 12th. Surely these clubs realized that they were smaller and less stories than Fiorentina. If they weren't going to be able to meet the financial requirements, the federation wasn't going to give them a license. This is good news for Bari and Pescara since despite relegation they can play in the Serie B again this year. The question remains as to what the the Italian federation, FIGC, will do about the big clubs. They have yet to due much to punish them for falling short of their financial responsibilities. Lazio seems to have been granted a license again for the year despite serious questions over whether or not the club has the finances to make it through the upcoming season. Parma, Lazio, and Roma are all clubs that are barely any better off financially than Ancona and Napoli were. The federation needs to do something before they too go the way of Fiorentina.