Maurizio Zamparini calls the sale of the club “my last gift to Palermo” but is “very tired” after legal trouble in recent months.
The patron has sold the Rosanero to an English consortium which includes former Juventus defender David Platt.
In recent months there have been questions about the finances of Sicilian side, something the former owner explicitly rejects.
“I don’t know whether to say it's a sad or beautiful day for me,” Zamparini said at the Press conference this afternoon.
Maurizio Zamparini calls the sale of the club “my last gift to Palermo” but is “very tired” after legal trouble in recent months.
The patron has sold the Rosanero to an English consortium which includes former Juventus defender David Platt.
In recent months there have been questions about the finances of Sicilian side, something the former owner explicitly rejects.
“I don’t know whether to say it's a sad or beautiful day for me,” Zamparini said at the Press conference this afternoon.
“I’ve had the opportunity to find those who will continue my work, and I think a father is lucky if he has a child who will continue the work he did.
“Today I think I’m giving my last gift to Palermo, entrusting the club to people of a high level with financial means.
“I’ve wanted to sell for five years and I’ve been approached by people who wanted to cheat Palermo.
“You thought I was acting in my own self interest, instead it was a defence against the people who approached me, even Arabs of a high level.
“An Arab investor who wanted to cheat me was circling, and then I talked with other people who didn’t have the means to support Palermo.
“This is a fantastic city, with amazing fans. The 7,000 in attendance last Sunday is not few, there were 8,000 against Schalke 04 in the UEFA Cup.
“The city must take note of that, it’s not Zamparini’s fault. The city is yours, if I had stayed I consider myself to be a capable and honest entrepreneur.
“If I’d been here we’d never have gone to B, but I had to give the club to suitable people like Foschi and Sabatini. They run the club.
“I leave Palermo very tired, I’ve been painted as something I’m not. In the last year-and-a-half they’ve painted Zamparini as untruthful, I’m a person of great honesty and social value.
“What they did to me is not nice, but it’s part of the world we live in today, one of few values, of heartless computers.
“I am a decent and deeply honest person, all the mistakes I made, I made in good faith.
“I thank you from my heart. You know Platt, and I ask you to help this group. They do not know the culture of Palermo, but that’s normal because it is a foreign ownership.
“I gave Palermo €90m of my family’s assets and I got €10 from the sale. But I hope they take Palermo back to Europe.”