Messina will resume work today in view of the next championship match, currently scheduled for next Monday. At the moment because before leaving for Taranto, the Giallorossi are waiting to know if the Apulian team will be able to use the “Iacovone” stadium, closed due to the fires that occurred on the first day of the championship in the derby against Foggia. The match scheduled for the second round between Brindisi (who plays in Taranto due to the unavailability of their stadium) and Catania has been postponed to a date to be determined for this very reason.
We will need to understand what will happen this week and whether the approval will be received from the institutional bodies for the safe use of the stadium. Much will depend on when the Prosecutor’s Office allows the Municipality’s technicians to access the Curva Sud, a sector placed under evidential seizure, to evaluate the amount of damage and define the interventions necessary to make the structure usable again. A week will hardly be enough. So, despite the appeal launched by coach Ezio Capuano, it is probable that Taranto will have to think about “plan B”: the first solution would lead to the postponement of the match, a hypothesis that Messina would like to avoid, because it would prolong the period of inactivity after the failure to play the match against Casertana, which will be played in October (at which point the next match would be the home debut against Turris on 21 September). The alternative would be to “transfer” the challenge elsewhere: this is an idea that Taranto would like to avoid, so as not to lose the advantage of playing in front of their own fans.
While waiting to have news on the “program plan”, the group will play a friendly match at the “Marullo” today (7 pm) with Valletta Football Club, a team that plays in the Maltese Serie A. For Mister Giacomo Modica it will be a useful test to verify the condition of some athletes and predict the possible inclusion from the start in the next match of some “big” players, such as Manetta, Ferrara, Firenze, Ragusa and Plescia.
La Valletta, tomorrow, at 9.30, will be received by the mayor Federico Basile, by the council, by the president of the city council, Nello Pergolizzi, and by the city councilors, at Palazzo Zanca. The institutional visit was agreed by the municipal councilor for sport Massimo Finocchiaro, with the management of ACR Messina and the Maltese Club. The team will be accompanied by Messina managers and a delegation of ACR Messina players. The institutional visit is part of the internationalization policies of the Municipality of Messina, in order to promote the “Messina brand”: the members of the Club will be given some typical Messina confectionery specialties offered by the historic Casaramona meeting place.