"There’s another situation, in Italy, where the influence of football can catch up or even surpass the influence of other entertainment forms, like music, TV series, horse racing, golf, basketball, etc.!"
"The former is hard to achieve in a short time, but the latter... isn’t this the opportunity?"
"This isn’t a war between Lu Yang and Kubo, my old captain. This is a war between the football world and the music industry! We must win this battle. We need to make all Italians and even all Europeans know that Italy’s football stars are extremely just; they can become role models and idols for the whole society!"
"Sofia, one of the biggest celebrities in all of Europe, is on the fringe of Italian Football; we absolutely cannot let her go! Lu Yang is our only connection with her; as long as Lu Yang is there, Sofia is there, and the attention of all European men is there!"
"This time, Lu Yang stands on the natural moral high ground; we simply can’t lose!"
"We need to make the music industry bow down and even have them praise our toughness, decisiveness, and justice! This battle will not only turn many music fans into potential football fans but also let all walks of life know that you, Martivini, have trampled Italian music with Italian football; you are an extraordinary figure, you deserve re-election!"
After a passionate speech, soon, the sound of clinking glasses echoed in the office.
It was clear that both sides drank quite a bit.
...
The next day, as the famous bad boy, Kubo’s trolls had already started moving.
Many articles condemning the inappropriate relationship between Lu Yang and Sofia appeared online.
Lu Yang had just turned seventeen recently, while Sofia was twenty-eight, making their age difference a natural target for criticism.
Likewise, Kubo also criticized Sofia’s new film, saying it was undoubtedly a terrible movie.
He also attacked Lu Yang, editing Lu Yang’s tough defenses on the field to create an image of Lu Yang as a thug on the pitch.
For this, Kubo spent a huge amount of money.
But it was all worth it, as he gained significant traffic again, and his new song was released and received a high click rate.
Many of Kubo’s fans revered this blackmail and began large-scale attacks on Sofia’s and Lu Yang’s social media platforms under the guidance of Kubo’s staff.
But by noon, the Italian Football Association publicly released a statement.
Italian Football Association President Martivini publicly held a press conference and then said in front of over a hundred media outlets, "Today’s invitation is primarily to notify everyone of three matters."
"Firstly, after a careful investigation by the Football Association regarding the brawl between registered player Lu Yang and a certain musician, with verification from the police, witnesses, and the parties involved, we strongly condemn..."
"Is it just a condemnation?" Martivini’s words were rudely interrupted.
Republican Newspaper’s reporter was furious, directly standing up to question, "Is it just a condemnation for Lu Yang? He did such a heinous thing, is the Football Association’s attitude just this? No fines? No suspension? I even think he should be permanently expelled from the field; he is unworthy of being a professional player; he shames the sport of football!"
The scene fell into a bizarre silence for a moment.
Many people showed a look of anticipation for a good show.
It’s known that among the more than a hundred invited media today, over thirty were authoritative media from other countries.
After all, this was a rare press conference by the Italian Football Association; last time of such scale was when the previous president announced his willingness to take responsibility for the match-fixing scandal and voluntarily stepped down.
"I think you misunderstood." Martivini said gracefully.
"Hopefully so, you should give a satisfactory explanation to so many media present!" Republican Newspaper’s reporter was very arrogant.
Martivini nodded and continued his earlier words, "So, we strongly condemn... Kubo!"
The Republican Newspaper reporter nodded, thinking to himself, go on, let me see how much punishment you will impose on Lu Yang, what... wait? What did he just say?
Kubo?
No!
Why Kubo?
What’s happening?
Maniero didn’t pause for this reporter’s brain freeze, he said with a rich tone, "Kubo’s discrimination against women is absolutely unacceptable in any group, especially so in the Italian Football Association!"
"The first matter is that in all Italian Football Association official events, broadcasts, interviews, articles, etc., it is strictly forbidden to feature Kubo and his works. The Italian Football Association indefinitely bans Kubo unilaterally! Until he sincerely apologizes to women worldwide and to Football Association registered player Lu Yang!"
Boom!
The entire press conference suddenly became sensational.
Many reporters showed expressions of disbelief.
If this is Martivini’s personal attitude, then it’s understandable; his ideas cannot be interfered with by anyone.
But he represents the Italian Football Association in saying these words.
This...
What kind of existence is the Italian Football Association?
Italy’s registered football players exceed four million, not to mention the fans. For the past decades, Italian football has consistently been of top tier; only in the last ten years has it fallen from the ranks of strong teams.
But in every match, everyone still presumes Italy as a strong team.
It can be said, the Italian Football Association is much stronger than any entertainment company within Italy.
Not to mention Kubo and the music company behind him, even if all Italian music companies were combined, they might not match the power of the Football Association.