Football’s unique transversality gives rise to unexpected political coincidences. Giorgia Meloni He is the current Prime Minister of Italy and chairman of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia party. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero He was the head of the Spanish Government and has reemerged in recent months under the leadership of Pedro Sánchez, a reference to the essence of the classic PSOE. SPAIN NEWSPAPER. Is it possible for two such opposite politicians to have something in common in their legislative practices? The answer is football. Beckham’s Law is the answer.
Both saw how football clubs moved to exclude athletes from the special contribution regime for highly skilled foreigners coming to their home country. It was created by Spain in 2005 during the Zapatero Government and Popular name of English football playerAs he was one of the first to take advantage of this rule when he signed for Real Madrid.
This rule was changed in 2009, when the former socialist president took over the Spanish administration and in the midst of an already widespread economic crisis, precisely to keep footballers out of this issue. Then there were timid attempts to invoke this change Ronaldo’s LawConsidering Madrid signed the Portuguese striker just a few months ago. It didn’t stick.
Now Meloni has decided to make the same decision. It caused an earthquake in Serie ABecause the decision was more unexpected and sudden. In 2019, Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of the populist 5 Star Movement, implemented a tax cut through the Crescita Decree that made it cheaper for Italian companies to hire highly paid foreign professionals, leaving taxation at half the normal amount. . Just a few days ago, Meloni imitates Zapaterodecided to exclude athletes from this tax advantage.
Criticism of the decision
“It will be the destruction of Italian football”AC Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani predicted in line with other leaders such as Lazio president and Forza Italia deputy (far-right) Claudio Lotito: “They will realize the mistake. It will be better this way.” If he can’t attract a foreigner, he should pay less taxes and nothing to the government, right?”
Serie A regrets that the Meloni government has followed Zapatero’s path with its decision not to extend the ‘Crescita Decree’. According to the Italian employers’ association, this decision “leads to a decrease in the competitiveness of the teams, resulting in a decrease in income, less resources for the quarries, a reduction in the relevant activities and, therefore, Also less income to the treasury“.
In both cases, there are obvious parallels in football. In 2005, Spanish football was going through a three-year winning streak without taking any of its teams to the Champions League final. Both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona were going through difficult timesEurope is far from the front line. The cape the government imposed through the Beckham Act allowed both parties to increase their competitiveness in subsequent years, and its effects have continued over time; because the expulsion of football players in 2009 did not prevent those who came to Spain before that date from losing this tax privilege. . Like Cristiano Ronaldo, to give the most relevant example.
Revitalizing ‘Calcium’
A similar situation occurred in ‘calcium’, which experienced a deep crisis five years ago. Juventus won nine leagues in a row in 2019 and the other two major leagues in the country. Inter and Milan had been out of the spotlight for a decade, financially bankrupt and lacking in sporting power.. Already in 2018, a ‘flat rate’ measure was applied to football players who declared a maximum of 100 thousand euros per year to use their image rights outside Italy. In fact, this was one of the main reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer of 2018.
Coincidence or not, it has become possible to take these measures in recent years. The resurgence of Inter and Milan. They have each won a Scudetto and played in one of the Champions League semi-finals last year, as the Nerazzurri won. With Juventus and Roma in the Europa League and Fiorentina in the Conference, Italian football added five semi-finalists in the same season, an unprecedented record in European competitions.
The president of LaLiga in recent years, Javier Tebas, condemned the tax advantage of championships like those in Italy. Or rather, without incentives to attract talent through tax legislation in Spain, the disadvantage Spanish teams have to compete against when they have to compete against such a team (English and French teams also have ‘special’ government regulations).
The “immorality” of the norm, defended by a part of Meloni’s government in an environment where the general population was experiencing economic difficulties, became the trigger for the elimination of this norm. Italian clubs face the winter market under the new regulations, enjoying immediate action, leaving aside any preparatory work carried out: The football player whose salary previously cost 5 million now costs 10 million. Goodbye to the Italian Beckham Law.