How Growth Decree’s removal will impact Serie A and Italian football

Italian football’s request to extend the Growth Decree regulation has been rejected by the government and this comes as a blow to Serie A and how it operates.

The regulation allowed Serie A to enjoy financial benefits for three years, making sure that clubs saved money and paid less taxes on specific international players. Through that, they could afford better players more often while having to pay lesser than clubs abroad would have to.

For example, if an Italian club signed a player that earns €1 million per season, they would have to pay only €1.5 million per season instead of €2 million. This made sure that the quality of the league rose, allowing teams to sign well-known stars. The fact that Growth Decree will now be removed will force clubs into changing strategies and signing lesser players.

Players like Romelu Lukaku, Benjamin Pavard, Adrien Rabiot, Victor Osimhen and Marcus Thuram play in Serie A due to the advantages of the Growth Decree and now, even their renewals won’t enjoy tax benefits.

Sky Italia state that the decision could have a political intentions. In recent years, there has been a boom in the number of Italians in Serie A. Last season, Opta stated that 61 percent of players in Serie A were foreigners and their playing time was at 65.5 percent. Lower spending on foreign resources meant that clubs didn’t have to rely as much on Italians.

The expectation is that no Growth Decree will make sure that there are more Italians in thhe Serie A and it remains to be seen how that helps or hampers the national team, where a constant narrative has been that there need to be more talent that operates in the Serie A.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN