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Juventus agreed to pay Cristiano Ronaldo €500,000 a week in wages while Bari had their water cut off over a €6,000 bill

By Neil Morris for The Gentleman Ultra of the Sport Network

While Juventus and Real Madrid finessed the details of Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer, a distant funeral bell tolled for three historic Italian clubs – a scenario that accentuated the disparity between those at the top of Italian football and those a few rungs down the ladder. Ronaldo’s arrival has been hailed as a coup for the Italian game. Apparently he will raise the profile of Serie A to a level not seen since the 1990s and everyone will reap the benefits. But few fans outside Turin subscribe to this “trickle-down” theory.

The news that Bari and Cesena of Serie B, as well as AC Reggiana of Serie C, have all been denied licences for the upcoming season due to financial issues will hardly come as a surprise to anyone who follows Italian football. Since Fiorentina went bankrupt in 2002, 153 Italian clubs have refounded, merged with other clubs or disappeared altogether. Three clubs have dropped from Serie B to Serie D this summer due to financial problems even though none of them finished in the relegation zone.

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from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LLWUfy