Once upon a time there was a famous football team, known throughout the world as the “Old Lady”, which found itself a week before the start of the championship without a brand on its shirt. Without a sponsor, in practice. It is not the plot of a serial novel, but the surprising reality that is shaking the top management of Juventus. To be clear, that Juve that until yesterday was chased by the largest multinationals ready to do anything to see their logo shine on the Serie A football fields, today finds itself like an influencer without followers: apparently no one wants to sponsor it.
Of course, not even the owner himself, John Elkann, as he no longer wanted to put money into supporting his own team. In fact, after twelve years, and for a total of 341 million euros, the final word has been written on a sponsorship contract with Jeep, the car manufacturer of the Stellantis group of which Giovanni Agnelli’s nephew is president. And so, to grab a few tens of millions of euros, the car group is knocking on the doors of Palazzo Chigi to be able to put the Ita Airways logo on the black and white shirts. Of course, an indirect knock, that of Stellantis, having started an agreement with the airline that so far is 59% owned by the Mef, and therefore the green light must come from this ministry. The remaining corporate package, as is known, is Lufthansa’s after the approval of the merger from the European Union.
The two parties (Stellantis-Ita) seemed to have reached an agreement: Ita Airways, ready to write a check for 41 million for a three-year partnership. But just when everything seemed to be going well, here comes the twist: Palazzo Chigi drops the axe. And so Ita had to withdraw the offer, leaving Juventus high and dry and with a shirt that, at this point, risks remaining as immaculate as the heart of a priest in a convent. For many observers, Meloni’s decision is in line with her position on the role of Stellantis. In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the fact that the multinational automotive company is progressively reducing its production in Italy, with shifts to other nations. This perception has probably influenced Meloni’s decision not to allocate public funds to sponsor Juventus, seeing the request as unjustified.
The government has already given, Meloni must have thought, given that just in the last few days a multi-year incentive plan for 6 billion euros has been launched for cars. A nice breath of fresh air for the car manufacturers, Stellantis in the lead, to compensate for production. In short, the head of the government is convinced that the former Fiat does not deserve even a single euro for the Ita sponsorship, given that the car manufacturer is slowly dismantling production in our country.
It is no coincidence that the government is taking cover. The same prime minister, less than a month ago, during her speech at the Italy-China business forum held in Beijing, signed an agreement for industrial collaboration between the two countries in six strategic sectors, including automotive and, in particular, electric mobility. This move marked a significant turning point in relations between Italy and China, highlighting a desire for cooperation and to overcome previous tensions in favor of common development in key sectors of the global economy. And Stellantis is just watching.
#contract #falls #Tempo
2024-08-15 23:40:30