Tucked away in the Italian football calendar in the middle of January, it was almost forgotten about, but the new iteration of the Italian Super Cup is upon us.
For the first time, the tournament, as has been the case lately with the Spanish Super Cup, is played in 4 groups to collect prize money estimated at more than 8. 6 million dollars (8 million euros). Inter, Lazio, Fiorentina and Napoli have all landed in Saudi Arabia to face others.
The country has reached an agreement to host 4 of the next six editions of the SuperCoppa Italiana, and in the 2022 edition Inter demolished Milan 3-0 at the King Fahd Stadium in front of 51,000 fans. This season’s expansion aims to give clubs more prizes. effective and will be the last edition played in Saudi Arabia for two years, with the tournament taking place in 2024 and 2025 before returning to the Middle East for 2026 and 2027.
Serie A was the first major league to bring this competitive fixture away from its homeland. Of course, one can debate the merits of calling the season curtain raiser ‘competitive’, but it’s still a fixture that brings home a trophy and prize money, and therefore worth fighting for.
30 years ago, Fabio Capello’s Milan beat Torino 1-0 in Washington, D.C to lift the 1993 edition thanks to a goal from Marco Simone. Nine years later the 2002 edition went to Libya, with Tripoli hosting Juventus and Parma. This was no doubt linked to the fact that Tamoil were Juventus’ shirt sponsors at the time. Two goals from Alessandro Del Piero secured a 2-1 win and, the following year, Juventus were again involved, beating Milan on penalties in New Jersey at Giants Stadium.
Since Beijing hosted the 2009 edition, the match has been more commonly played outdoors in Italy, with Qatar also participating for several years. Still, participating in the festival in Saudi Arabia has not been without controversy. The owner of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, who is never one to shy away from making a couple of brusque comments, criticized the decision to organize the festival in the country. “Arab countries want to be in a way that respects women and work,” De Laurentiis said. “When someone talks about sport, ‘You have to reconcile it with fitness and well-being,’ he continued. ‘When that doesn’t happen, I worry. ‘
De Laurenti spoke in October, when the clash between Israel and Palestine had just resurfaced in the public consciousness, and De Laurenti became even more involved in the fragility of the region. “Have you noticed what’s going on in Israel?
“Can you imagine that there’s an air blockade around those territories? Come on guys. You’re putting 120 top players on airplanes, think about what they’re worth. Ah! Don’t be stupid!” All this to earn a few million euros more?” he added. De Laurentiis suggested changing the venue to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Of course this was never going to happen with the money on offer from Saudi Arabia (this edition is bringing in $24m (€23m) to Lega Serie A, with $17m (€16m) of it distributed to the four clubs).
There were also considerations on the Saudi side. La Repubblica reported that ticket sales at prices had been slow due to the absence of Juventus and Milan, and that the Saudi public was not enthusiastic about seeing Fiorentina and Lazio participate. In addition, a Saudi journalist asked the CEO of Serie A. Luigi Di Siervo why the two groups were sent “instead of Juventus and Milan”. It has even been warned that Saudi Arabia has little appetite for the tournament due to the lack of Juve and Milan.
A year ago, neither Milan team managed to fill the King Fahd Stadium, as both were around 7,000 spectators short compared to the stadium’s capacity. Although the match between Fiorentina and Napoli is a technical masterpiece on the pitch, it will not contribute to the attractiveness of Serie A in the country as it is locked with two-thirds of the stadium empty.
It remains to be seen if the formula of the ‘final four’ will be good luck, it is conceivable to return to the tried-and-true formula of the winner of Serie A against the winner of the Coppa Italia and, if the locals turn their backs on it, this may simply be the first and only version of the SuperCoppa Italiana.