Dossena: “Assocapp was founded to shed light on the end-of-career fund”

Why was this new reality born?

“This new reality is born from well-founded assumptions. We have found some opacity regarding the end-of-career fund and from there we decided to accelerate its creation. Lately we have found that there are anomalies for some players. Contributions relating to career years have not been paid. This information was given to us by the fund, it is not our deductions, and we cannot understand why. This is why we have accelerated the founding of Assocapp, because of this evidence and because of everything we have seen in the last month on the End of Career Fund”.

It’s a very delicate moment for Italian football, what can you do?

“The moment is so delicate with a clear crisis in our football, that in my opinion a different voice, different perspectives are necessary. We believe we have the authority and the ability to be an authoritative, serious, balanced point of reference and we are able to give our contribution. Today I took on the role of president pro-tempore, because then there will have to be the assembly. The vice president is Lorenzo Marronaro and the other constituent Luca Pellegrini. Then there will be the Assembly which will elect a president. At the moment I I also take on the role because of what I have been saying for 5 years.”

In fact, what is Assocapp?

“It’s a second footballers’ association and not only that, but we don’t want to be the Aic and we want to understand the short circuit where it is. The Club, the Football Federation, the Italian Footballers’ and Coaches’ Association, are bodies controlling the end-of-career fund. This is the main aspect. All the information we have puts us in a position to think that the sustainability of the fund is at risk, because if they don’t put us in a position to see things, if they don’t give us the documentation, this worries us. All the more reason we want to see the financial statements and how they have used our money.”

What can active footballers do?

“I make an appeal to the players who are active today. Get information, ask what is happening with your money. Check that there are all the necessary guarantees, so that in a few years you can go and collect the end-of-career allowance”.

Could such a serious fact, if it were obviously confirmed, lead to a commissioner?

“It’s a delicate moment for the Federation, with the resignation of Gabriele Gravina and the elections already called, but the assessments are not up to us, we don’t know if there are reasons why a commissioner for a component could take over. This must be decided by whoever makes the decisions, we, let’s say that FIGC, AIC and AIAC have control bodies for the end-of-career fund. Why are there these anomalies, why aren’t the budgets presented to us, why are there athletes who appear to have no contributions? We keep asking, no one answers us and every day we discover things that worry us. Now we have a different way, with Assocapp, to ask and get answers.”