Spectators stay away from Italy's Cup of woe

ROME, Nov 10 (Reuters) Italian newspapers described the Italian Cup as being in terminal decline after spectators stayed away from this week's ties.

''If this is what it's like it would be better to abolish it,'' read a front-page article in La Gazzetta dello Sport, commenting on the deserted stands at the San Siro on Wednesday, when 1,833 fans turned out to watch AC Milan beat Brescia 4-2.

In the last few years the Cup has been routinely described as second-class and a minor irritant to the country's biggest teams, who field weakened sides and save their best players for Serie A and the Champions League.

The best-attended match of the last-16 round this week was at Messina, where 16,123 paid to watch the home side lose 1-0 to Inter Milan.

That compared with the 55,000 who cheered on Real Madrid's 5-1 win over Ecija in the Spanish Cup, or the 41,000 who watched Chelsea thump Aston Villa 4-0 in England's second cup competition the League Cup.

The general indifference was epitomised by the failure of the Italian Football League to reach a deal with state broadcaster RAI over the television rights for Wedneday and yesterday's matches.

In the end, there was no coverage at all.

It was a new low for the competition that was first held in 1922, when north-western club Vado, who now play in the fourth division, won the trophy.

The Cup was repeated regularly throughout the 1930s, died off during World War Two, was resurrected in 1958 and has been played annually since.

GROWING INDIFFERENCE A number of explanations have been put forward for the growing indifference of clubs, apart from the interest in more prestigious tournaments, such as the Champions League.

The prolonged calendar kills off spectator interest. The semi-finals are scheduled for January, with the two legs of the final separated by almost a month in April and May.

Poor timetabling of individual games also prevents spectators coming to the stadium. Wednesday's tie between Reggina and Chievo Verona, for example, kicked off at 1.30 p.m., when most Italians were at work.

Even the flat-rate seven-euro (9.01 dollar) ticket price, which included a lunchtime roll, failed to attract more than 1,059 fans to Reggina's Granillo stadium.

Add to these reasons the home and away format of the ties from the last 16 stage onwards, which reduces the possibility of an upset, the generally poor state of many Italian stadiums, and the risk of violence at some grounds.

The last two factors have been cited as reasons for the continuing malaise in Serie A, where the average gate this season has dipped below 20,000 for the first time since the 1970s.

A spokesman for the Italian Football League refused to comment on Friday, beyond blaming ''a convergence of factors...I don't think there is a single person or organization responsible for the fall (in attendances).'' Gazzetta dello Sport, however, saw little future for the Cup without radical change.

''Honestly speaking, we are not even certain whether the disease this tournament is suffering from is incurable or not,'' it said.

''There really may be nothing we can do for it''.

REUTERS PDS PM1900