THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020 N D5SOCCER
Pretty quickly, Paolo Dal Pino
realized that the illustrious list of
names on his glittering résumé,
the long years spent in the
boardrooms of some of Italy’s
corporate behe-
moths — none of it
was fitting prepa-
ration for running
his country’s top
soccer league.
Serie A, after all,
did not function like the industri-
al giant Pirelli or the telecom
provider Wind or the communi-
cations company Telit, the com-
panies where Dal Pino had spent
his career before, in January,
agreeing to take charge of Italy’s
top division. The league did not
have a defined hierarchy or a
sense of purpose. What it had
was 20 presidents of 20 teams,
bickering among themselves.
It was a schoolyard and a
debating chamber, fraught by
internal politics and vulnerable
to internecine strife. One faction,
including many of the league’s
makeweights, gathered around
Claudio Lotito, president of La-
zio. Others clustered around
Juventus, its powerhouse. The
growing number of American
owners — at Roma and A.C.
Milan and Fiorentina — had a
different set of ideas again.
The chances of the league’s
conjuring a unified response to
the coronavirus crisis, then —
picking a way through the en-
forced hiatus, finding a route
back to the field, one that satis-
fied all of the competing agendas
— should have been remote. It
might have been expected to
break the league for good.
Instead, Dal Pino feels the
pandemic might have healed it.
“There is more unity than
before,” he said. His explanation
is, for the president of a soccer
competition, a slightly unexpect-
ed one: Serie A could work to-
gether because there were no
games. The absence of action on
the field, Dal Pino said, “cleared
the table of many issues.”
Without the squabbles that
would invariably break out after
a weekend’s games — fingers
pointed at referees, opponents
smeared, rivals scorned, all of it
played out in Italy’s ravenous
sports media — Serie A’s execu-
tives could, at last, find harmony.
“Covid-19 changed a lot of
things,” Dal Pino said. “It
changed the way people inter-
acted.”
Andrea Agnelli, the Juventus
president, gives at least some
credit to Dal Pino himself: His
“diplomacy,” Agnelli said, helped
to keep the clubs on board.
The test for Dal Pino is ensur-
ing that sense of togetherness —
fostered in the panic of the shut-
down — can hold now that Serie
A, like most of Europe’s major
leagues, has returned to the field.
The pandemic was an existential
threat; it is far from the only
challenge the league has to face.
Dal Pino arrived in his role in
January, the fourth man to take
up the post of Serie A president
in four years. If, from the outside,
the job has the air of a sinecure
— just someone to hand out the
medals at the end of the season,
to smile and to shake hands —
and an uncertain, short-lived one
at that, he wanted to interpret it
slightly differently.
In his first official communiquéafter taking the role, he urged
the owners of the league’s clubs
to “come together” to restore
Serie A to the position it held in
the 1990s, as “the most beautiful
league in the world.”
Quite how to do that, of course,
has been vexing Italian soccer
ever since its demise began in
the early 2000s. The sette sorelle,
the fabled Seven Sisters clubs
that once made Serie A the most
glamorous league in Europe, no
longer attract the finest players
on the planet. The league’s
broadcast revenue pales in com-
parison to those in England and
Germany. Its stadiums are large-
ly crumbling, antiquated.
Dal Pino’s arrival, too, hardly
came at a propitious moment. A
string of racist episodes in stadi-
ums — as well as an ill-conceived
anti-racism campaign late last
year — had left Serie A’s reputa-
tion in tatters. The league
seemed unable, or perhaps even
unwilling, to combat the prob-
lem. Certain clubs seemed to be
in thrall to their far-right ultras.
The issue had become so en-
demic that a number of black
players had refused moves to
Italy because they feared beingracially abused. After Romelu
Lukaku, the Inter Milan striker,
was abused at a game, a former
teammate of his at Chelsea,
Demba Ba, urged black players
to leave Serie A.
There were economic issues,
too. Clubs seeking to build new
stadiums had invariably found
that doing so involved diving into
a Kafkaesque bureaucracy. Qa-
tar-based beIN Sports, one of the
league’s most important rights
holders, had been infuriated by
the decision to stage the coun-
try’s Super Cup in Saudi Arabia,
and was threatening to end its
broadcast contract.
Yet Dal Pino saw signs of
promise. He cited the arrivals of
Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo as
proof that Italian clubs could still
attract elite talent, and high-
lighted that, before the pan-
demic, Italian soccer was break-
ing its attendance records, sug-
gesting that fans still had a
“hunger” to see games.
But Serie A still seemed a long
way from what it was. The pan-
demic had dealt a crippling blow,
“devastating the industry,” as
Dal Pino put it, not just in terms
of ticket sales but “all activitiesrelated to games, like merchan-
dising and sponsorships.”
“Abandoning the season would
have severely impacted the
value of both the clubs and the
players,” he said.
That has been staved off — for
now — of course. Dal Pino is
even hopeful that some fans may
start to return to Italian stadi-
ums as soon as July. “We need to
be prudent and patient, but we
are confident that if the health
situation continues to improve,
the gradual return of fans into
the stadiums will be a reality,
perhaps partially next month,”
he said.
His vision, though, does not
stop at a return to normal, not as
it was before. His plan, instead,
focuses on change. “Any crisis
situation represents an opportu-
nity to improve ourselves by all
means,” Dal Pino said. “There
are opportunities to be seized.”
They encompass a whole
range of ideas, from “reducing
bureaucracy” for clubs hoping to
build new stadiums to, poten-
tially, selling a stake in the
league to a private equity firm —
CVC Capital Partners and Bain
Capital are reported to have
made offers, though Dal Pino
refused to comment — and
changing the way Serie A sells
its television rights.
The spat with beIN, for exam-
ple, has resulted in Serie A’s
being blacked out in dozens of
countries, convincing many in
Italian soccer that the league
needs to have final control over
its broadcast agreements, as
opposed to selling them through
a third party, as is currently the
case. Dal Pino is intrigued by a
streaming platform, and he ac-
knowledged the need to “control
our long-term destiny.”
If any of it is to come to fru-
ition, though, if Dal Pino is to see
his vision for Italian soccer grow
into something more real, he will
need the presidents of his 20
teams — the clutter of cats that it
is his job to herd — to remember
that they can work together, to
keep hold of the harmony they
could find in silence, even now
that the noise has started again.Chorus in Italy Tries a New Tune: Cooperation
RORY
SMITH
ON
SOCCERSerie A has returned to action, but it still faces several challenges under its leader, Paolo Dal Pino.ANGELO CARCONI/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCKSCOREBOARD
SOCCERBUNDESLIGA
Team GP W D L GF GA Pts
t-Bayern .....34 26 4 4 100 32 82
Dortmund ....34 21 6 7 84 41 69
RB Leipzig... 34 18 12 4 81 37 66
Monchengladbach 34 20 5 9 66 40 65
Leverkusen... 34 19 6 9 61 44 63
Hoffenheim... 34 15 7 12 53 53 52
Wolfsburg ....34 13 10 11 48 46 49
Freiburg .....34 13 9 12 48 47 48
Eintracht .....34 13 6 15 59 60 45
Hertha Berlin.. 34 11 8 15 48 59 41
Union Berlin... 34 12 5 17 41 58 41
Schalke .....34 9 12 13 38 58 39
Mainz .......34 11 4 19 44 65 37
Cologne .....34 10 6 18 51 69 36
Augsburg ....34 9 9 16 45 63 36
Bremen .....34 8 7 19 42 69 31
Fortuna Dusseldorf 34 6 12 16 36 67 30
SC Paderborn. 34 4 8 22 37 74 20
t-clinched title
Saturday, June 20
Bayern 3, Freiburg 1
RB Leipzig 0, Dortmund 2
Hoffenheim 4, Union Berlin 0
Fortuna Dusseldorf 1, Augsburg 1
Hertha Berlin 2, Leverkusen 0
Mainz 3, Bremen 1
Schalke 1, Wolfsburg 4
Cologne 1, Eintracht 1
SC Paderborn 1, Monchengladbach 3
Saturday, June 27
Dortmund 0, Hoffenheim 4
Leverkusen 1, Mainz 0
Monchengladbach 2, Hertha Berlin 1
Wolfsburg 0, Bayern 4
Eintracht 3, SC Paderborn 2
Bremen 6, Cologne 1
Freiburg 4, Schalke 0
Augsburg 1, RB Leipzig 2
Union Berlin 3, Fortuna Dusseldorf 0N.W.S.L.CHALLENGE CUP
At Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman Utah
All Times E.D.T.
Saturday, June 27
North Carolina Courage 2, Portland Thorns 1
Chicago Red Stars 1, Washington Spirit 2
Tuesday, June 30
Washington Spirit vs. Utah Royals, 12:30 p.m.
OL Reign vs. Sky Blue, 10 p.m.
Wednesday, July 1
Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride, 12:30 p.m.
North Carolina Courage vs. Houston
Dash, 10 p.m.
Saturday, July 4
Washington Spirit vs. OL Reign, 12:30 p.m.
Chicago Red Stars vs. Utah Royals, 10
p.m.
Sunday, July 5
Houston Dash vs. Sky Blue, 12:30 p.m.
North Carolina Courage vs. Orlando
Pride, 10 p.m.TRANSACTIONSM.L.B.
COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE — Suspended
Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Edgar Santana
80 games following a positive test for
a performance-enhancing substance
under Major League Baseball's Joint
Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Suspended Cincinnati Reds minor league
RHP Vladimir Gutierrez 80 games and
Los Angeles RHP Juan Idrogo 72 games
following positive tests for performance-
enhancing substances under the Minor
League Drug Prevention and Treatment
Program. Suspended Minnesota Twins minor
league 2B Jose Rosario 50 games following
a second positive test for a drug of abuse
under the Minor League Drug Prevention
and Treatment Program. Suspended Los
Angeles Dodgers RHP Reza Aleaziz 50
games following a positive test for a banned
stimulant under the Minor League Drug
Prevention and Treatment Program.
American League
NEW YORK YANKEES — Placed RHP
Luis Severino on the 45-day DL. Signed
INF Matt Duffy and C Max McDowell to
minor-league contracts. Released RHP Dan
Otero and re-signed him to a minor-league
contract.
SEATTLE MARINERS — Placed Mitch
Haniger on the 45-day DL.
TEXAS RANGERS — Optioned OF Adolis
Garcia to Nashville (PCL). Placed LHP Brock
Burke on the 45-day DL. Released INF Matt
Duffy from his minor-league contract.
National League
NEW YORK METS — Placed RHP Noah
Syndergaard on the 45-day DL.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Placed RHP John
Brebbia on the 45-day DL.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Outrighted RHP
Yacksel Rios off the 40-man roster.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Placed INF
Adrian Sanchez on the 45-day DL.W.N.B.A.
LOS ANGELES SPARKS — Signed G Te'a
Cooper.N.F.L.
NEW ENGLANS PATRIOTS — Signed QB
Cam Newton to a one-year deal.
NEW YORK JETS — Signed OL Cameron
Clark.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Team GP W D L GF GA Pts
ch-Liverpool... 31 28 2 1 70 21 86
Man City .....31 20 3 8 77 33 63
Leicester .....31 16 7 8 59 29 55
Chelsea .....31 16 6 9 55 41 54
Man United... 31 13 10 8 48 31 49
Wolverhampton 32 13 13 6 45 34 52
Tottenham ....31 12 9 10 50 41 45
Sheffield United 31 11 11 9 30 31 44
Arsenal ......31 10 13 8 43 41 43
Crystal Palace. 31 11 9 11 28 36 42
Burnley ......31 12 6 13 35 45 42
Everton ......31 11 8 12 38 46 41
Southampton.. 32 12 4 16 41 55 40
Newcastle ....31 10 9 12 29 42 39
Brighton .....31 7 12 12 34 41 33
Watford .....32 6 10 16 29 49 28
West Ham ....31 7 6 18 35 54 27
Bournemouth.. 31 7 6 18 29 50 27
Aston Villa ....32 7 6 19 36 60 27
Norwich .....31 5 6 20 25 56 21
Saturday, June 27
Aston Villa 0, Wolverhampton 1
Sunday, June 28
Watford 1, Southampton 3
Monday, June 29
Crystal Palace vs. Burnley
Tuesday, June 30
Brighton vs. Man UnitedBASKETBALLN.B.A. RESTART SCHEDULE
All Times Eastern
Thursday, July 30
Utah vs. New Orleans, 6:30 p.m.
L.A. Clippers vs. L.A. Lakers, 9 p.m.
Friday, July 31
Orlando vs. Brooklyn, 2:30 p.m.
Memphis vs. Portland, 4 p.m.
Phoenix vs. Washington, 4 p.m.
Boston vs. Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m.
Sacramento vs. San Antonio, 8 p.m.
Houston vs. Dallas, 9 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 1
Miami vs. Denver, 1 p.m.
Utah vs. Oklahoma City, 3:30 p.m.
New Orleans vs. L.A. Clippers, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia vs. Indianapolis, 7 p.m.
L.A. Lakers vs. Toronto, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 2
Washington vs. Brooklyn, 2 p.m.
Portland vs. Boston, 3:30 p.m.
San Antonio vs. Memphis, 4 p.m.
Sacramento vs. Orlando, 6 p.m.
Milwaukee vs. Houston, 8:30 p.m.
Dallas vs. Phoenix, 9 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 3
Toronto vs. Miami, 1:30 p.m.
Denver vs. Oklahoma City, 4 p.m.
Indianapolis vs. Washington, 4 p.m.
Memphis vs. New Orleans, 6:30 p.m.
San Antonio vs. Philadelphia, 8 p.m.
L.A. Lakers vs. Utah, 9 p.m.GOLFTRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday
At TPC River Highlands
Cromwell, Conn.
Purse: $7,400,000
Yardage: 6,841; Par: 70
Final Round
D. Johnson (500), $1,332,000 69-64-61-67—261 -19
K. Streelman (300), $806,600 66-66-63-67—262 -18
W. Gordon, $436,600.... 66-62-71-64—263 -17
M. Hughes (163), $436,600 60-68-68-67—263 -17
K. Na (110), $303,400.... 66-66-65-67—264 -16
R. Armour (86), $233,470.. 67-66-68-64—265 -15
B. DChmbeau (86), $233,470 65-67-65-68—265 -15
P. Kizzire (86), $233,470... 66-66-66-67—265 -15
S. Stallings (86), $233,470. 66-68-64-67—265 -15
B. Steele (86), $233,470... 69-62-68-66—265 -15
P. Cantlay (56), $139,983.. 66-67-69-65—267 -13
S. Woo Kim (56), $139,983 68-66-68-65—267 -13
D. Redman (56), $139,983 68-67-69-63—267 -13
A. Ancer (56), $139,983... 67-65-66-69—267 -13
V. Hovland (56), $139,983. 63-69-67-68—267 -13
Z. Johnson (56), $139,983 68-64-67-68—267 -13
R. McIlroy (56), $139,983.. 63-68-69-67—267 -13
S. Y. Noh (56), $139,983.. 64-68-66-69—267 -13
B. Todd (56), $139,983... 66-65-61-75—267 -13
J. Dahmen (42), $87,320.. 67-68-68-65—268 -12
L. Glover (42), $87,320... 66-68-71-63—268 -12
X. Schauffele (42), $87,320 63-68-70-67—268 -12
B. Stuard (42), $87,320... 65-67-68-68—268 -12PRO FOOTBALL
Quarterback Cam Newton, a
former N.F.L. most valuable play-
er who has been dogged by inju-
ries in recent years, has signed a
one-year contract with the New
England Patriots, according to
multiple reports.
Newton, who was drafted first
over all in 2011 by the Carolina
Panthers and has played his en-
tire career in Carolina, became a
free agent this off-season. After
missing just six games in his first
eight seasons, he played in just
two games last year. Newton has
injured his knee, shoulder and the
Lisfranc ligament of his left foot,
necessitating surgery — a few
months before the coronavirus
pandemic disrupted off-season
N.F.L. player movement.
Newton was released by the
Panthers in March amid an orga-
nizational reshuffling that saw the
departures of the head coach, Ron
Rivera, and a stalwart linebacker,
Luke Kuechly.
Before injuries slowed him
down, Newton, 31, was one of the
league’s most dominant quarter-
backs and the best offensive play-
er in Panthers history. He has
thrown for more than 29,000 yards
and 182 touchdowns in his career.
He has run for more than 4,800
yards and 58 touchdowns as well.
His best season came in 2015,
when the Panthers went 15-1 and
reached the Super Bowl. Newton
was voted winner of the Most
Valuable Player Award that year.
Newton guided the Panthers tofour postseason appearances.
The deal was first reported by
ESPN and confirmed by NFL Net-
work. The Patriots declined to
comment on the report of New-
ton’s signing. Newton’s agent, Bus
Cook, did not immediately return
requests for comment.
By signing Newton to a one-
year contract, the Patriots will
risk little but potentially gain a
seasoned, athletic quarterback.
The team’s longtime quarterback,
Tom Brady, signed with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March.
The Patriots’ roster of quarter-
backs also includes Jarrett Stid-
ham, whom the Patriots selected
in the fourth round in 2019 and
who appeared in just three games
as a backup last season. The Patri-
ots also have Brian Hoyer, in his
second stint with the team.
At quarterback, the Patriots
also have J’Mar Smith and Brian
Lewerke on their roster ahead of
training camp.
COURT TO HEAR APPEAL ON KRAFT
A three-judge panel in the Florida
Fourth District Court of Appeal in
West Palm Beach will hear an ap-peal of the case against the Patri-
ots’ owner, Robert K. Kraft, this
week when it considers a lower
court’s decision to throw out video
evidence that is central to the two
misdemeanor charges against
him for solicitation of prostitution.
The case will be argued via video-
conference and livestreamed on
the court’s website because of co-
ronavirus concerns.
Kraft was originally charged in
Jupiter, Fla., in February 2019 af-
ter the police used video surveil-
lance to observe activity inside
several day spas and massage
parlors that, the police said, had
been used for prostitution. Some
of the two dozen other men who
were also charged in the case have
paid fines and performed commu-
nity service to resolve their mis-
demeanor charges.
Kraft, however, declined to take
a plea deal. Instead, his lawyers
argued that video showing him
and other patrons at the day spa,
Orchids of Asia, was improperly
obtained by undercover cameras
installed there. The police, his
lawyers said, misrepresentedtheir intentions when they applied
to the court for permission to use
the cameras, and did not suffi-
ciently minimize the scope of their
surveillance, violating the consti-
tutional rights of the customers.
In May 2019, a Palm Beach
County court judge agreed with
Kraft’s lawyers and threw out the
video evidence in the case, hand-
ing Kraft a significant victory. The
ruling echoed similar decisions
made by judges in nearby coun-
ties where defendants were
charged with similar misdemean-
ors after having been identified in
surveillance investigations.
Ashley Moody, Florida’s attor-
ney general, taking up the case for
the state attorney in Palm Beach
County who charged Kraft and the
others, has asked the appellate
court to overturn that decision, ar-
guing that the police followed es-
tablished procedures for getting
permission to install the cameras.
Kraft, 79, is unlikely to face time
in jail if the lower court ruling is
overturned, but he could face pen-
alties from the league commis-
sioner, Roger Goodell.Seeking Brady’s Old Job, Newton Joins Patriots on One-Year Deal
By KEN BELSONCam Newton has had injuries.MIKE McCARN/ASSOCIATED PRESSTRACKING AN OUTBREAK
Fox 40’s version is one of a
handful available; Windsor and
iSport, among others, make their
own versions. But Fox 40’s posi-
tion in the industry — its clients
include the N.B.A. and the N.F.L.
and even the White House, where
multiple presidents have used its
whistle to start the annual Easter
Egg Roll — means it has had a
surge in inquiries and orders.
Before mid-April, the Canadian
company’s largest order for elec-
tronic whistles had come from a
European train company, which
bought 3,000 for its employees.
Since May 1, though, Foxcroft esti-
mated, the company had received
orders for about 50,000 more,
mostly for sports officials.
Many of the referees who re-
ceive them will be trying one for
the first time. Verne Harris, a Di-
vision I men’s basketball official
for the past 32 years, said in an in-
terview that he did not know the
electronic whistle existed until
this spring. But during his coro-
navirus-imposed refereeing hia-
tus, he said, he has been ponder-
ing what changes might be com-
ing to the profession.
“I didn’t really think of anything
that would be an alternative, but I
was like, ‘How in the world?’ ”
Harris said of reducing transmis-
sion risks during games. “The
minute they touch the ball and
then we touch the ball and then we
kick it out and turn around and put
the whistle in our mouth.
“And when you blow on the
whistle,” he added, “then all of
those particles are coming out
into the air.”
Some leagues are making plans
to use them. Hockey Quebec, the
governing body for the sport in
the province, recently included
the mandatory use of electronic
whistles by referees and coaches
in its protocols for a return to play.
And the N.C.A.A.’s chief medical
officer this spring raised the ideathat game officials be included —
along with trainers and some
coaches — in the group of people
required to wear masks at games.
While the push-button whistle,
which looks a bit like a small flash-
light, certainly addresses some vi-
rus fears, head-to-head compar-
isons with the sounds of more tra-
ditional whistles can sometimes
be unsatisfying. And in inter-
views, some veteran referees
raised more practical concerns.
“Are they weatherproof? Do
they work in the snow? Do they
work in the rain? You know, those
sorts of things,” said Steve Shaw,the national coordinator of offi-
cials and secretary rules editor for
college football, who tried out
Fox’s electronic whistle in May.
“And do we have to carry a spare
battery around with us?”
Other officials wondered how
an electronic whistle would be
synced with the Precision Time
System, a relatively new mecha-
nism that uses the sound of refer-
ees’ whistles to stop the game
clock. Experts say this system can
save 30 seconds or more of play-
ing time in an average 40-minute
college basketball game, and it is
used in the N.B.A., the W.N.B.A.
and the men’s and women’s
N.C.A.A. basketball tournaments.
“When you put air in the whis-
tle, it triggers the clock to stop at
that point like instantaneously,”
said Donnie Eppley, a Division I
men’s basketball official since- “I’m not sure how they would
do that with an electronic whistle.”
Shaw said he thought the elec-
tronic whistle could be a good al-
ternative if sports officials deter-
mined that referees should shift
away from traditional models. But
the most difficult part in using the
new whistle is just that, Shaw ex-
plained: using it. He and several
other officials interviewed raised
concerns about what is consid-
ered to be one of the graver sins in
their job: the inadvertent whistle.
“We have that momentary time
lag between taking your whistle
from your hand to your mouth,
and that little instance sometimes
can save you from blowing an in-
advertent whistle,” Shaw said.
“And this has none of that kind of
delay built into it because it’s right
there in your hands. And right
there, your thumb is on the button.
So we’d have to really talk through
being patient.”
Eppley added, “I can see, may-
be, a lot of inadvertent whistles
where people are just running up
and down the court and you’ve got
this thing in your hand and you
just inadvertently touch the but-
ton.” He called it a challenge of
“whistle discipline.”
For now, the bigger challenge
may be educating the experts
tasked with making decisions re-
garding the return of sports about
the electronic whistle’s existence.
Brian Hainline, the chief medi-
cal officer of the N.C.A.A., said in
an interview that he had sug-
gested during a conference call in
May that officials might be among
those, including coaches and
trainers, who need to wear masks.
But upon learning about the
electronic whistle, he became a
quick convert.
“I hadn’t thought of this, but the
idea of this electronic whistle, it
actually solves a lot of problems,”
Hainline said. “It’s a brilliant idea,
in my opinion.”An Argument for Letting the Fingers Do the Whistling in a Pandemic
From First Sports PageReferees expressed practical concerns about electronic whistles.TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES