Lawyers for the Serie C clubs have already announced they’ll lodge another appeal after the CONI ruled Serie B will remain with 19 clubs.
The verdict finally arrived today from the CONI after several days of confusion and Lega Pro confirmed they’ll draw up the fixture list tomorrow morning.
The chaos began over the summer, when clubs Bari, Avellino and Cesena went bankrupt and failed to register for the new season in mid-July.
Lawyers for the Serie C clubs have already announced they’ll lodge another appeal after the CONI ruled Serie B will remain with 19 clubs.
The verdict finally arrived today from the CONI after several days of confusion and Lega Pro confirmed they’ll draw up the fixture list tomorrow morning.
The chaos began over the summer, when clubs Bari, Avellino and Cesena went bankrupt and failed to register for the new season in mid-July.
Rather than keep Serie B at 22 teams and bring in replacements from Lega Pro/Serie C, the decision was made on August 13 to simply start again with the remaining 19 sides.
This infuriated the clubs who would’ve been brought back into Serie B, who took legal action against the move: Siena, Novara, Catania, Ternana and Pro Vercelli.
However, today’s verdict from the CONI only found that their appeal was inadmissible, as it should’ve gone straight to the FIGC.
“We respect the decision, but we do not agree with it,” declared Cesare Di Cintio, lawyer for Pro Vercelli.
“The confirmation that our view of the situation is correct came from the fact two of the five elements in the commission, including President Franco Frattini, voted in our favour.
“It’s a controversial decision and it deserves to be contested in another appeal. That is what I am recommending that Pro Vercelli and the other clubs do, because President Frattini’s words of support in the sentence gave us the strength to go forward in this battle.”
It will be a remarkable and chaotic twist if these clubs do eventually win their appeal, because two rounds of the Serie B season with 19 clubs involved have already been played.