While lawyers talked strategies behind closed doors, over one thousand fans took to the streets of Turin last week to protest the expulsion of their team, Torino, from the Serie A championships next season due to its severe financial difficulties. Messina has also been expelled from the championships for the same reason.
These are just the latest examples of the financial difficulties that professional Italian football leagues have been facing in recent years. Many teams have just barely avoided bankruptcy, and Fiorentina actually did go bankrupt in 2002, only returning to Serie A last year.
