The first official confrontation between the candidates for the office of mayor of the city of Messina took place in the church of Santa Maria Alemanna. Participating in the debate were Federico Basile, Marcello Scurria, Lillo Valvieri, Antonella Russo and Nico Scandurra, the latter replacing Gaetano Sciacca.
The meeting, organized by the Calcio Messina cooperative company, focused on the candidates’ perspectives regarding the management of sports facilities and the strategies for the relaunch of the city’s first team.
Focus also on infrastructural issues, starting from the coverage of the Franco Scoglio stadium up to the issue of concessions for sports facilities, both for the main city stadium and for the “Giovanni Celeste”, which has now reached 95% of the redevelopment works.
Basile: “The Celeste stadium represents the most obvious and appropriate solution for Serie D”
Federico Basile claimed the results of the outgoing administration, reeling off the numbers achieved and underlining how the exit from the state of bankruptcy and the approval of the rebalancing plan now allow the Municipality to evaluate the possibility of taking out a loan for the modernization of the Franco Scoglio stadium, including the construction of the roof. The resigning former mayor then added: «For the category in which ACR Messina plays, Serie D, the Giovanni Celeste stadium represents the most obvious and appropriate solution, allowing us at the same time to enhance and redevelop the facility».
Scurria: “After eight years we are still with the ifs and buts. The “Franco Scoglio” is and will always be the home of Messina”
The position of Marcello Scurria, candidate of the centre-right, is of an opposite nature: «The outgoing administration had eight years to put its ideas into play and instead we are still here with the “ifs” and the “buts”. Franco Scoglio is the first stadium in Sicily, the third in Southern Italy, the seventh in Italy: it was, is and will always be the home of Messina football.”