LIVORNO. The group of Andrea Locatelli he is serious and strongly wants Livorno. The former Infront man is moving forward weaving the web of his project to make it complete in all its nuances. This is because it would be an approach based on the German model.
Only one in command? No thank you
No patron who manages the company alone in all the various areas, but many pieces of a puzzle that will have to fit together in the right way. For now the Locatelli project, if we want to call it that, continues its development but has not yet received any response from the president Joel Esciua. Neither an opening nod nor a firm no to leave it at that. Nothing at all. And while the Curva Nord continues briskly in its protest against the owner, let’s try to better understand what is meant when we talk about a company with a German model, as Locatelli would have in mind. The German model has distant origins, even the first examples in Teutonic land of a society managed by the community can be seen as early as 1800.
Things
In Germany, in fact, there is an obligation to never lose sight of one’s popular origins. Over time, some teams such as Leipzig and Hoffeinheim have managed to bypass this type of corporate construction, but the vast majority of teams have an associative and bottom-up participation nature. In addition to the big names like Bayern (over 300,000 members), Borussia Dortmund and Leverkusen, other interesting examples come from Hamburg, a city of 2 million inhabitants which has 85,000 members who are interested in the future of the club every day. The same goes for the Schalke 04 sports club, where in a city of 300,000 inhabitants, there are an impressive 160,000 members. But how is such a society structurally constructed? The model is that of 50%+1. That is to say that people, the partners, develop a joint-stock company to best carry out the company’s projects by controlling it directly through an association.
How does it work
At the same time, however, through 49.9%, they are also open to having external investments without losing their popular soul. Other features of the German model? Cheering at the center, cheering is the absolute protagonist. With affordable tickets, everyone standing in the stands, a spectacular atmosphere and a always full stadium.
Community involvement and the social part are central to the German idea of football. Every year, the General Assembly meets to appoint management positions and to plan investments and development programs. It is therefore not a question of 100% popular ownership, but of a solution that would still aim to focus on a strong involvement of the city and the participation of the people, perhaps also opening up to those who can appreciate such a system outside the province.
The next steps
According to rumors, Locatelli’s idea is precisely this. Open up 50%+1 to members, fans, to anyone who wants to support Livorno with a share accessible to (almost) everyone and then focus on important investors for the remaining 49.9%. Some have already signed up and many others are on the lookout. But for now there is only silence on Esciua’s part.
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