Gaetano Micciché to become president of Lega Serie A
The appointment of Micciché, who is currently the chairman of financial services group Banca IMI, was announced by Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president and Lega extraordinary commissioner Giovanni Malago, after the decision was approved by the 20 Serie A clubs at a meeting on Monday, with the move set to be confirmed on 19th March.
Micciché will serve in his new position on a temporary basis as CONI continues its efforts to overhaul the administration of Italian soccer. Last month, CONI appointed two of its senior executives to lead the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A to address governance issues in the sport.
CONI secretary general Roberto Fabbricini was appointed as extraordinary commissioner for the FIGC following its failed election process in January, while Malago opted to take up a similar position at the Lega.
“He is a sportsman, very passionate, competent, a man of relationships, of systems and is highly esteemed,” said Malago, commenting on Micciché’s appointment.
Meanwhile, the Lega has confirmed that Serie A’s summer transfer window will now close on 18th August, one day before the start of the new season. It has also been decided that the winter window will end before the league resumes following its traditional mid-season break.
In September, England’s Premier League became the first major soccer league in Europe to alter rules governing the summer transfer window, with the deadline for incoming deals now set to be brought forward to before the 2018/19 season gets underway.
The rule change means the summer transfer window will shut at 5pm Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on the Thursday before the start of the new campaign, in a move which only applies to the acquisition of players by Premier League clubs.
Elsewhere, the Lega has said that it will continue staging games over the Christmas period, after trialling the move this season. According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Malago said that two rounds of matches will be held between Christmas and the New Year, ahead of a three-week winter break.