23/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has closed the proceedings it opened against Italy further to changes made to accounting rules applicable to Italian sports clubs. In a law of 18 April 2005, Italy cancelled the tax breaks enjoyed by Italian sports clubs since 2002 in the form of accounting rules allowing losses to be offset against future profit for a longer period than is normally authorised. The Commission is thus putting an end to the procedure which it opened in November 2003, when it stated that tax breaks could be classed as State aid incompatible with European rules. The Commission is, however, pursuing its proceedings for an infringement of EU accounting directive is further to the "Salva Calcio" decree, which allows the amortisation of players to be staggered over several years (EUROPE n° 8743).