The FIGC has given Claudio Lotito until Saturday to sell Salernitana, or the Granata could be excluded from Serie A with Benevento returning to the top-flight.
The Italian FA rejected Lotito’s attempt to pass over the ownership of Salernitana to a blind trust, giving until Saturday at 8 pm Italy time to ‘solve the problems.’
The Granata earned Serie A promotion for the first time in 22 years, but Lotito, who is also the owner of Lazio, must sell the club as one man cannot own two clubs in the same division due to a conflict of interest.
It is also prohibited to sell the club to relatives up to the fourth degree, which, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, is one of the reasons the FIGC rejected Lotito’s attempt to pass over the ownership to a blind trust.
Salernitana, per la Figc trust non valido: corsa di Lotito per evitare l'esclusione dalla #SerieA https://t.co/rv1oCz094T
— La Gazzetta dello Sport (@Gazzetta_it) June 30, 2021
According to the report, the trust doesn’t have the required economic independence to run the club. The old ownership would not leave enough resources going forward, so the new owners may find themselves in the position of relying on Lotito and his partners anyway.
Lotito’s lawyer, Gian Michele Gentile, insists the Lazio President is ‘not worried’ by the whole situation. “The FIGC has required some clarifications and we are going to provide them. There is no anxiety or reasons to be worried. Lotito is serene,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
However, the Lazio President has until Saturday to solve the situation, or Salernitana could be excluded from Serie A.
If that happens, and Salernitana will ‘lack requirements for participation in the championship’ Benevento would return to Serie A, being the best-ranked among the clubs relegated to Serie B in 2020-21.