There have been many calls for unity in a moment that could have been dramatic for Reggina. Now that the football catastrophe for Reggio Calabria is getting closer, the disintegration is evident. There is Saladini’s Reggina, which is actually officially sold in the event of Serie B, ready to appeal to the Council of State. There is the Reggina of football players and employees or perhaps it would be better to say there was. There is the Reggina of the city and of the fans. Three distinct entities. We are facing yet another summer crossroads: on the one hand to continue the battle for admission and on the other to turn the page, thinking of a different future.
Felice Saladini has made it clear that he wants to go all the way to try and make his reasons count. The amaranth case is intricate and the sentences that have arrived, in the sporting and non-sports fields, have not so far been easy to accept. Trying to the end would also be right, but at what price would the Council of State be reached? The risk is also that of making it difficult to start a new year zero in Reggio Calabria. Reggina would be called to wait, to date, until August 29 to submit its appeal to the Council of State. Meanwhile the players have already stopped training. It will be unlikely that he will resume working in the via delle Industrie structure and he is waiting to understand what the initiatives of the Italian Footballers’ Association might be.
If the members had the release before the end of the month, even a Reggina that were to be right with the next sentence could be in great difficulty in planning the season from scratch. And be careful: this would be the brightest prospect and perhaps the most difficult to see, considering that recourse to the Council of State is a front towards which the most widespread sentiment is skepticism with respect to any success.
Certainly keeping the appeals issue standing can take away space for what can be called “plan D”where the letter indicates the category of Italian football from which one could start again.
Yesterday the FIGC president Gabriele Gravina recalled that, should Reggina receive a new negative opinion from the Council of State, it could resort to article 52 paragraph 10 of the Noif. A city that loses its professionalism – according to the law – can ask for the extra participation of one of its new teams in the Serie D or Eccellenza championships. In the first case it is necessary to pay no less than 300,000 euros, in the second no less than 100,000. A totally new company would be needed and, based on the first news, there are already entrepreneurs who would be willing to set it up. The problem is likely to be the times. It would take several days for the municipal administration (which is responsible for the initial direction of the operations) to open up to any expressions of interest and choose who can start the new football project.
Waiting until the end of the month, it would become difficult to insert Reggina in Serie D or Eccellenza with the calendars already defined. “If the decision of the Council of State – declared Gravina – is issued on August 29, we are far enough ahead of previous years for an application of 52 paragraph 10. The FIGC, however, has always been very sensitive not to mortify important squares” .
For precautionary purposes, in any case, the Municipality of Reggio Calabria would as far as possible already moved with the football bodies. A year ago Campobasso, excluded from C, awaited the decisions of the Council of State and, at the end of August, did not obtain a place in Serie D, although the championship had not yet started but already had defined groups and calendars. Will it be possible to reconcile the desire to reach the Council of State and not preclude the possibility of a restart from Serie D? It is the question that Reggio is now asking himself, wanting to avoid having, in addition to the damage, the insult.
