Sarri blasts Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia
Maurizio Sarri blasted on Sunday the revamped Italian Super Cup as a purely money-grabbing exercise as his Lazio team prepare to leave for the tournament in Saudi Arabia.
Lazio take on Inter Milan in the second semifinal at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh on Thursday, the first time the Super Cup will be contested by four teams.
Napoli kick-off the tournament on Wednesday when they face Fiorentina at the same stadium.
“Everyone knows what I think, that this tournament has nothing to do with sport, we’re just taking the money and running,” said Sarri.
“We’re going around the world with our hat in our hands… With all the problems that we have with crowded fixture lists, we then decide to organise a four-team Super Cup.”
Before this season the Super Cup has featured the Serie A champions and the winners of the Italian Cup, with Inter Milan thumping AC Milan in the Saudi capital last January.
This term it features last season’s top two in Italy’s top flight and the two cup finalists, in a similar change to the one made to the Spanish Super Cup which is also being played in Saudi Arabia.
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Lazio finished second behind champions Napoli in June, and Sarri’s side sit fifth in Serie A after beating Lecce 1-0 on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sport in recent years, with the Gulf State’s Pro League snatching big names from the major European leagues thanks to the backing of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
However, the kingdom has been accused of using major events to “sports wash” its human rights record.