The American magazine New Yorker published an article that points to Italy's immigration laws as one of the causes of the decline of the national soccer team. The text is authored by journalist Albert Samaha.
The analysis, which gained prominence this Sunday (31) in the newspaper the Republicpart of a concrete fact. Italy does not qualify for a World Cup This is the third consecutive edition, despite having won the tournament in 2006. According to the magazine, the difficulty of accessing citizenship for children of immigrants born in the country has reduced the pool of available young talent.
Comparison with other national teams
The starting point of this reasoning is the difference compared to other footballing powerhouses. France, Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, and the Netherlands all have many players of immigrant descent in their squads.
The magazine notes that even Norway had more athletes of African origin than Italy, with the exception of Moise Kean. Some of these countries have a more extensive colonial past than Italy, but, according to the text, they have better integrated immigration from the regions they once dominated.
Samaha also considers the most common explanations for the crisis, such as the excess of foreign players in Serie A, the lack of investment in youth categories, and the defensive tactics adopted by coaches.
The article also recalls episodes described as racism in Italian footballAmong other things, the text includes statements from former coach Arrigo Sacchi about the number of black players in youth categories and the punishment of former Federation president Carlo Tavecchio, who was removed from office after a racist statement. The text also mentions the difficulties faced by the striker. Mario Balotelli.
The 1992 reform
The article links these sentiments to immigration policies, particularly the 1992 reform. The change made the citizenship process for children of migrants born in Italy slower and more bureaucratic.
Giovanni Malagò, former head of CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee) and now a candidate for the leadership of Italian football, has compared this process to a "Dantesque circle" (a reference to Dante's work). According to the article, in fifteen years Italy, the oldest country in Europe, has lost about four and a half million potential athletes between the ages of 14 and 19.
The text points out that American culture has already explored soccer before. Writer Paul Auster wrote an article for the New York Times Magazine in which he argued that the sport had replaced wars as an outlet for nationalism in Europe.
The article "Italy has failed to qualify for three straight world cups. Are the country's immigration policies to blame?" can be read here.
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