Italian football has a rich history, with some of the world's most famous clubs, such as Juventus and AC Milan, and are the most successful European country in the history of the World Cup. But in recent years both the national team and clubs have suffered following the Calciopolli scandal of 2006, in spite of the country winning the World Cup that year.

Platini said: "Italian football won the World Cup in 2006, and Inter are the current world club champions, but not everything is right. The stadiums in Italy are not in good condition and the image is not nice because empty stadiums are a real disaster."