Gravina’s proposals: “Transfer market to be closed before the championship and VAR on call” – Football

Discussions continue on the possibility of closing the transfer market before the start of the championship. After the intervention of the CEO of Lega Serie A Luigi De Siervo (“It is not utopian to start playing after the transfer market”), the declarations arrive by the president of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina: “We are opposed to playing with the open market, because it fuels distortions and generates tensions that we cannot tolerate between players and clubs”. In a press conference, the number one in Italian football explains how to make the proposal a reality: “This is a topic that does not only concern Italy, so the only way out of this misunderstanding is to ensure that this idea can become a majority consensus within UEFA”. In the next meetings, Gravina will urge colleagues from other federations to understand “if this can be a shared path to provide a reference of stability at the start of competitions”.

Gravina: “Ready to test the actual playing time”

At the moment, the dates of the transfer campaign are set by internal rules of the Federation, which have a shared path at international level. During the press briefing of the president, other aspects were also addressed, such as the actual playing time. The FIGC communicated to the IFAB (International Football Association Board) “Italy’s willingness to test the actual playing time, to respond to a need increasingly felt by everyone, that all matches have a real time”. The board was also presented with the request to “experiment with the upgrade of the VAR protocol, providing, on a limited number of occasions, the possibility that the coaches or captains of the two teams can call an on-field review”, added the president.

FIGC open to experimentation

A third proposal concerns the experimentation of a communication system between coach and captain. Three absolute innovations, never authorized by the Ifab. Now the right time may have come and Gravina is ready to welcome them, because “if we don’t start with requests, no one will ever question the possibility of making changes to the game of football”.