Virtus Bologna, wake-up call from Luca Baraldi

The words of Luca Baraldi

Luca Baraldi, CEO of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, spoke about the future of Italian basketball at Meet The Best 2023/Create Value: “I have already proposed it in various venues: why don’t we create a Bollino Blu that can bring points in the standings to reward virtuous clubs, that work well, that pay salaries and contributions on time even of employees not only of players, that work on nurseries, that invest in facilities. In sports we always think of penalizing those who behave badly, instead we reward the good ones. We don’t have the problem of capital gains in soccer, it can be a starting point, let’s show that we are the first to introduce a premium for virtuous clubswhich could also lower costs, because if you already start with points in the standings at the beginning of the championship, then you are more relaxed and you can save a little on the number of players.”

“I have always said it, even in the League Assembly: mutuality is fundamental because alternation in competitiveness is fundamental. Virtus is a top club, but the problem is everyone’s because if our shareholder decides to stop investing, we are at zero. If resources come in, the rich clubs have to give a hand to the less rich ones because we all play in the same league. They say if you have money you win, but that is not true because it is not so obvious. We should all work together to impose rules, even from above, that don’t force us to be in a hurry to win.”