Serie A Presidents do not want to exclude Salernitana from the league, but the FIGC has the last word on the matter.
The newly-promoted side could be excluded from Serie A in January as their owner Claudio Lotito has failed to find investors willing to buy the club.
Serie A rules bar two clubs from playing in the same division under the same patron and Lotito also owns Lazio.
A trustee that formally owns Salernitana has revealed that the offers received over the last few months did not meet the minimum requirements.
The trustee has asked for time until the end of the campaign, requesting FIGC not to exclude the club from Serie A.
Meantime, Serie A Presidents have voted to keep the Granata in the league until the end of the season.
Only two clubs – Lazio and Salernitana – didn’t vote. All the other Presidents were in favour of giving more time to the club.
“The clubs have voted in favour of keeping Salernitana in Serie A with conditions that must be defined starting from now,” Lega Serie A President Paolo Dal Pino said after the meeting.
However, the FIGC has the last word and a meeting to discuss the matter will take place on Tuesday.
Great news. Hope FIGC decide same.
Would be devastating to the players living a dream and fans who have no fault in this. Not to mention would make Seria A look ridiculous in Europe. If they wanted to exclude them then either before or after the season.
@RT the problem is this rule exists longer than Salernitana earned the promotion. In fact, they should not allow Salernitana to start under the same owners. Rules are there to not alter the competition
It would be stupid to relegate the club now. Bad for the league, clubs and fans. If a blind trust can run the club for half a season, why can’t they run it for a full season? Then if Salernitana happen to survive the drop an auction should be held and the club sold to the highest bidder. Too bad if Lotito doesn’t like that. Then, going forward, if a Serie B club is owned by a Serie A owner and it finishes in the promotion spots it will forfeit its place and next club in the standings not already in the promotion places. This is how they do it in Spain with the various B teams of clubs like Madrid (Castilla) and Barcelona (Barcelona B). They cannot be promoted to the first division. So this fiasco will be avoided in the future.
Salernitana better be careful not to beat Juventus, otherwise they might find themselves at the bottom of the football pyramid in a heartbeat!
They should just dock Lazio a point for every round that the club isn’t sold. Stick it to Logo to the way he has stuck it to the team, its players, the city and fans of Salernitana.
I really am angry about this situation.
Oh and by the way, good job by the other owners with their vote but I’m pretty sure it was based on their own eel interests.
Within a month after the season ending, Lotito should have had to either:
1. Officially register Salernitana as a reserve team of Lazio (same as Juventus has their U23 squad), and then block their promotion, so they stay in Serie B. Potentially relegate them to Serie C if rules require it (I cannot remember the rules, if the reserve teams can play in Serie B).
2. Sell the club.
3. Put the club in a trusteeship for the season after which the club is either sold, or the trusteeship assumes full ownership, but under legal obligation to sell if anyone makes an offer that matches the requirements, or the license is registered in Serie B (if allowed by the rules) or Serie C as “S.S. Lazio U23”.
3.1. This trusteeship should be in the hands of a board elected by the Salernitana season ticket holders of the previous 10 seasons (random number of years). 1 vote per season ticket bought. And this trusteeship should at the end of the first season have the option to raise the funds to buy the club. I believe AFC Wimbledon is run by a Fan Trust, and this should also be an option for Salernitana if their fans have the money to buy their club under reasonable conditions.
The main problem is the extension of deadlines. There should have been one deadline in the summer, only, and after that trusteeship for a season, and with clear and fixed rules agreed for the specific situation, if the issue is not resolved in the coming summer.
I understand there are already rules regarding the issue of owning 2 clubs, but since this mess happened, then the rules clearly need to be expanded, clarified, and improved.
The current situation makes a mockery of the rules, and is an insult to Salernitana fans.
Well, less of an insult if they did not get to play Serie A, but still it is not in any way okay.
As a Lazio fan I sometimes hope that Lotito is just banned from owning any football clubs, but that would be too much to ask for.