How is soccer evolving? “Avoid being prisoners of nostalgia, because it is a bad counselor it is a lens that disfigures reality it contorts it, it does not allow us to read what is happening you have to be lucid to make an analysis of the present, which is not comforting. There is an excess of commodification, it is bringing this sport, the most popular sport in our country, a real social phenomenon, because over the years soccer is being drained out of its sporting sphere and turned into some other thing, what? There are two words that I detest coupled with soccer: spectacle and entertainment. Soccer is neither spectacle nor entertainment. Soccer is sport and, above all, passion. I challenge any fan any fan to tell me that when he goes to the stadium he wants to have fun, suffer, get angry and live our passion. This is the biggest mistake, in my opinion, of cultural and not just commercial strategy that soccer is making.
An increasingly symbiotic relationship that between soccer and TV, who benefits the most? “Television has come into possession, into full possession of soccer. The days of radio, which I experienced together with the great voices of the past such as Ameri, Ciotti and Provenzali, broadcasts in which I was also present, of course among the youngest and then in the secondary fields, those broadcasts made 25 million radio listeners, this was until the 1980s, this was because there was no television and radio was the only way to follow soccer, the only source of information, which you could follow at home but also in the car. Today, TV has transformed the essence, even the ethics. Television has taken over soccer with the presumption that it can change it, and not always for the better. I don’t want to open controversy, but the advent of VAR, right or wrong, is a need born out of the fact that television is now invasive. We all had a monitor for replays, the only one who could not see was the referee, and we gave him the monitor. With the presumption and exaggerated ambition to make this game perfect, which will never be perfect, for the simple reason that women and men, human beings and therefore imperfect by nature, play it.
Sticchi Damiani is one of the last supporter presidents, is he a figure to be protected or destined to disappear? “I like the management model of Lecce, I say it sincerely. The advent of investment funds and foreign ownership is related to the rising costs and expenses of soccer, which basically prevented Italian entrepreneurs from entering the world of soccer because today it is really too expensive to be the owner of a club and so this has favored the advent of big international funds or very rich properties coming in from outside the borders. This is not negative in itself but the negative aspect of this type of management is related to the fact that whoever comes to manage a club in Italy if he is not strongly involved on an emotional level, as in the case of the fan president, if he is not in close relationship with the environment, if he does not know the history of the club he is managing, he risks doing something that has nothing to do with soccer. It is true today soccer is like an industry, but soccer cannot be run like a factory. That is why the management of Lecce is a virtuous model, which to some extent, however, keeps strongly in mind the necessary link between the soccer team, the club, its territory and the fans who cheer for Lecce.”
Let’s talk about current events, what do you think about the struggle for salvation? “This is a very good championship, both in terms of the Scudetto fight and the fight for salvation. Very competitive championship, in the sense that everything that everything is still to be determined, perhaps still only Monza has an almost sealed verdict, for all the others there is still a margin to be able to define the ranking. I appreciate Lecce very much, I have seen it many times, I like to see Lecce because they play well and this is no small thing. But then I think of Milan’s comeback, with Lecce winning with full merit, but then against certain teams the difference is made by individuals, players of great technical value, and this then establishes the difference. You can play well, but it is the technical value on the field that makes the difference. However, it can save itself because it is a team that has strong motivation, a lot of quality, compared to the competitors for salvation, plus it can put the big teams in trouble. It is much more difficult to play against a direct opponent for salvation, than against one of the top teams in the league, also because of the different motivations, playing against Milan, triggers stronger motivations, but also the knowledge that if you can win well, but if you fail to win no one can ever reproach you, while if you don’t win against a direct competitor it complicates the path. Lecce, however, can do it.
You have commented on thousands of matches, do you have any memories that tie you to Lecce? “I remember Pasculli’s wonderful Lecce was a Lecce of great quality, with great champions. I remember that whenever I came to Lecce at the Via del Mare stadium, what always struck me was his involvement. For a radio commentator it is very important, to absorb the energy that comes from the environment, the atmosphere that you breathe and the great enthusiasm is something that allows you to get right into the game and manages to make you experience it better and helps you in your work. When I passed by the stadium, I felt a bit of nostalgia, plus it has a perfect view for anyone doing the job of a radio commentator.”
The article Riccardo Cucchi: “What energy the Via del Mare. Lecce can save itself” comes from Calcio Lecce.
