{"id":3127,"date":"2024-06-26T17:55:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T15:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rivistaeco.com\/?p=3127"},"modified":"2024-06-26T17:55:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T15:55:30","slug":"mattia-giani-dying-on-a-soccer-field-at-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rivistaeco.com\/en\/2024\/06\/26\/mattia-giani-dying-on-a-soccer-field-at-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattia Giani: Dying on a Soccer Field at 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a tragic story, both because it tells of the death of a young athlete and because, as is so often revealed after a workplace accident, not all rules were followed on that soccer field. But it is also a story that lifts the veil on careers lived far from the spotlight and the million-dollar salaries, and which end with poor pensions.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

He died on the field. Not clinically, because the death was certified later at a hospital, but sportingly and physically. And economically. He was Mattia Giani: he played soccer and he was 26 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything That Went Wrong<\/b><\/h3>\n

It happened on Sunday, April 14, just outside Florence at the municipal stadium of Campi Bisenzio, dedicated to Lanciotto Ballerini, a partisan hero of the Resistance. The match between Lanciotto Campi and Castelfiorentino was scheduled as part of the Eccellenza league group A. Just 14 minutes into the first half, Giani collapsed. No collision, no impact, no in-game action. In these tragic cases, the initial talk is of an illness, then of sudden death. The autopsy will clarify matters, but it will take 90 days for a judicial authorisation. Meanwhile, amid shock and grief, disbelief and anger, responsibilities are sought. And almost inevitably, gaps in the system are discovered; both in the health system and in the social security system.<\/span><\/p>\n

It could be called malpractice or bad sports management. There was no ambulance at the field: the first arrived 17 minutes after Giani collapsed, the second shortly after that. This absence was noted and documented by the referee, resulting in a fine of 400 euros for Lanciotto. First aid was given by Castelfiorentino’s masseur and a doctor who happened to be watching the match. There was a defibrillator, but it was in the referee’s locker room and\u2014apparently\u2014no one knew how to use it. By the time it was decided to load Giani into the ambulance and take him to an emergency room, it was too late.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Story of “Poor” Soccer<\/b><\/h3>\n

Soccer is not the sport of gold where all participants are treated like kings or at least as they should be. Not even in Italy, where it is the national sport. The soccer of large stadiums and live broadcasts, million-dollar contracts and advertising endorsements, players as influencers and role-models, with their agents and managers, and their \u201cWAGs\u201d (wives and girlfriends) is a niche of a niche of a niche. It is said that one child in 10,000 fulfills their dream of becoming a professional player, but that does not mean reaching Serie A and certainly not the Champions League. Giani, who played in Eccellenza, the fifth tier (after A, B, and C, considered professional, and D, defined as semi-professional), was an amateur, although in the top category of amateurism. However, soccer is a world of infinite variables, including official salaries, inflated reimbursements, invisible bribes, under-the-table bonuses, and sub rosa agreements, (although they also include unpaid salaries, masked sponsorships, and sudden bankruptcies). And that\u2019s not all, it is not uncommon for clubs to \u201cforget\u201d to pay contributions. Contributions which are low anyway, considering that professional careers, but not amateur ones, are so brief, often cut short by traumatic or chronic injuries which in other circumstances are classified as workplace accidents.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Social Security of Footballers<\/b><\/h3>\n

In Italy, the social security system for footballers, who are employees in every respect, operates on an accumulation basis. The worker, together with the employer, contributes 33% of their salary to the INPS sports professionals pension fund. The capital paid produces compound interest linked to GDP growth and inflation. The conversion coefficient applied to the revalued sum of contributions made increases with age, ranging from about 4% to 7% in the hypothetical case of retirement at 65. On average\u2014but the economic range among footballers is dizzying\u2014the monthly pension of a professional footballer is 1500 euros.<\/span><\/p>\n

Often, footballers request early retirement. Those who contributed up to December 31, 1995, can retire with 20 years of contributions and 54 years of age; those who worked beyond December 31, 1995, need 20 years of contributions and 64 years of age but only if the pension is at least 1409.15 euros. A minority, an elite.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Autopsy Won\u2019t Be Enough<\/b><\/h3>\n

Among the rules that unite professionals and amateurs and that bring millionaires and the penniless together there are at least two mandatory ones: the medical examination granting fitness for competitive activity and insurance often linked to registration.<\/span><\/p>\n

The medical examination should verify the absence of physical anomalies. Remember the case of Davide Astori, a Fiorentina player who died in a hotel before a match against Udinese? The autopsy established that his sudden cardiac death was due to ventricular fibrillation caused by silent arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. No one had noticed. And he was an athlete at the top of his profession internationally, not only with the club but also with Italy (four matches in the Under 18 and 14 in the National team). He was 31 years old and seemed a force of nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giani\u2019s autopsy was performed by Beatrice Defraia, a forensic pathologist at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Florence at the Careggi hospital, assisted by Fiorenzo Gaita, director of the cardiology chair at the Molinette University of Turin, and Cristina Basso, who heads the Institute of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Padua. Their verdict will be revealed after this issue of Eco has been published. Only then will we know more clinically and legally: there is an open file for manslaughter. But this is not enough: we need to rethink and rebuild the economic, social security, and welfare aspects of football as well. Otherwise, we should expect new cases like Giani\u2019s. Indeed, we should already be preparing for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bio<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Marco Pastonesi is a sports journalist for La Gazzetta dello Sport, mainly covering cycling and rugby. He has written “Pantani era un dio” and “Rocky Marciano blues” for 66thand2nd, “Spingi me senn\u00f2 bestemmio” and “Se cadono tutti vinco io” for Ediciclo. He collaborates with Il Foglio and Wikiradio (Rai Radio 3).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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