'They lie!' - Furious Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis launches scathing attack on FIFA and UEFA while demanding 'basketball-style' rule changes

De Laurentiis has never been one to shy away from controversy, and his latest interview with CBS has seen him take aim at the very top of the football pyramid. The Napoli owner expressed his deep frustration with how FIFA and UEFA manage the global game, specifically regarding the vast revenues generated by major international tournaments.

"They make too much money, when the earnings should belong to the clubs and not the federations," De Laurentiis stated. "They say they distribute the wealth, but it's not like that. They lie, they don't tell the truth." The film producer turned football mogul believes the current power dynamic is skewed against the investors who pay the players' wages.

Continuing his critique of the international calendar, De Laurentiis argued that clubs are being exploited by national teams. He suggested a radical reduction in mid-season fixtures to allow for a single two-month international window, while also demanding that federations pay for the privilege of using club assets.

The Napoli chief was particularly vocal about player insurance, saying: "I would like to know why there is no insurance if a player gets hurt with the national team. Why don't UEFA and FIFA insert it? If a player is out for a month they should give you a certain amount of money and so on if the absence is prolonged. If he cannot play for a year, they should give you the money to let you buy a player of the same level. If they want our players, they must pay for them. If a yearly salary is 10 million, if they have the players for a month they must give me a million. Why should I give them for free? They are my property, not theirs. It's too easy for them to take 15 players and not pay them, or they receive money under the table from agents to call them up to the national team. It's unprofessional, but it's happening in Italy."

Beyond the financial disputes, De Laurentiis believes the product on the pitch is failing to capture the attention of Gen Z. To combat this, he has proposed a drastic shift in the format of a match, moving away from the traditional 45-minute halves in favour of a system more commonly seen in the NBA.

"We have to renew everything, the kids grew up with phones, they go very fast: they have passion but not patience," he explained. "They can see a game for two hours only if they are at the stadium. We could divide the two halves, maybe 25 minutes and 25 minutes consecutive with effective time as in basketball! Today in football the referees decide how much to recover, I fight with the FIGC because in the referees there is a certain anarchy. It's not good, especially for the sport! Football is an industry and they don't understand it. We invest so much money, too many people talk."

With the FIGC elections approaching, De Laurentiis called for a political specialist rather than a former player to lead Italian football, emphasizing the need for a credible leader who can negotiate tax and bureaucratic reforms with the government. He further criticised the influence of agents, dismissing them as service providers who demand exorbitant fees but fail to support players when real problems arise.

"You don't need a former player; it has to be someone who can speak politically to the government to achieve something we've never had," he said. "We need to collaborate; if we need to resolve fiscal and bureaucratic issues, you have to help us. We need people with credibility who can talk to ministers and resolve issues. [Gabriele] Gravina wanted to protect himself; [Gennaro] Gattuso didn't know where to go or what to say. It's anxiety-inducing. You have to be relaxed; to be successful, you have to be relaxed."