The paper investigates the selection of accounting policies for intangible assets in the Italian football industry, focusing on the effects of the so-called salva calcio decree. Introduced by the Italian government, the decree effectively permitted clubs to amortize the asset of players?registration rights over an arbitrary time period of 10 years rather than over the length of players?contracts, thus improving clubs?reported financial position and performance. While adoption of the salva calcio decree had no direct cash flow effect, it had indirect economic consequences. It is argued that...Read more
