Serie A's recent decline has been variously attributed to the Italian economy, decrepit stadiums, eccentric owners, and violent and racist fans. Inter chief executive Mike Bolingbroke believes that there is another, seemingly trivial, reason while the Italian league has fallen behind its English and German counterparts: kick-off times. Bolingbroke says that the habit of starting some matches at 8:45pm leads to a triple whammy of half-empty stadiums, a poor television spectacle and, most crucially of all, lower sales to Asian markets. "It's a disaster for the league," he told Reuters in an interview. Bolingbroke, who as right-hand man to club president Erick Thohir is responsible for trying to restore Inter's position among Europe's elite clubs, said the first problem was that, particularly on a Sunday, late kick-offs keep families away. "You won't get kids going, so if the kids are at home, the parents have to be at home," he said. Although Bolingbroke has been told that broadcasters like the late kick-off, he said he found that a "little difficult to believe". "What the broadcasters want is a great product and they're not going to get a great product when there are empty...
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