Valerio Antonini it doesn’t move back a millimetre. The patron at Trapani Shark and FC Trapani returned to make itself heard with a Facebook live broadcast with very harsh tones, openly challenging the institutions of Italian basketball and threatening the team’s immediate withdrawal from the championship.
«I’m pissed off!» shouted the Roman president in front of the camera, in an almost ten minute video which testifies to the now irreparable rift between the Sicilian club and the Federation.
At the center of the dispute are the five penalty points inflicted on Trapani Shark and the ban on membership which prevents Alex Latini from being registered as coach and Luigi Patti as the twelfth player.
The live broadcast: ultimatums and tests
Antonini’s counter-offensive is based on one Revenue Agency certification of Trapani, obtained from the director Giuseppe Arnone, who would attest to the regularity of the tax position of companies. «We have paid 680 thousand euros of VAT, there are no IRPEF and INPS to pay. The penalties are undue and I want all the points back» declared the patron, publishing the official documents.
According to Antonini, the situation would demonstrate «harassing and persecutory behaviour» by the institutions, with the aim of forcing him to abandon the championships. «I paid 2 million euros in the last two months just for Trapani Calcio and I paid everything for Shark» he added, rejecting the accusations of arrears.
The end of the live broadcast left little room for interpretation: «Dear FIP, dear LegaBasket, you must give us everything back, everything immediately, otherwise I will withdraw the team from the championship from tomorrow, no ifs or buts. I don’t want to be in this mess anymore».
A threat already announced on Sunday after the home defeat against Varese, when sporting director Valeriano D’Orta spoke of «blatant injustice and relentless persecution», announcing the possibility of not showing up for the next trip against Virtus Bologna.
The response of the institutions
All this comes on the day the extraordinary federal councilsummoned urgently. The institutions unanimously resolved that “the company’s behavior is seriously damaging the image of the entire movement”, giving president Gianni Petrucci a broad mandate for legal initiatives to protect Italian basketball.
«Let’s continue on our way. For the Federation, documents and not words count” commented Petrucci, in a statement that sounds like a clear closure to the dialogue.
The Basketball League also recalled “the principles of sporting loyalty and correctness”, aligning itself with the federal position.
The case
Trapani Shark, the FIP raises the wall: «The image of the movement is damaged»
Extraordinary federal council for the Trapani Shark case: the FIP gives full powers to the president to protect the image of Italian basketball. The League aligns.
Qualifying amidst chaos
Paradoxically, precisely at the moment of maximum tension, the Trapani Shark has achieved a historic result: the mathematical qualification for the Final Eight of the Italian Cup, scheduled in Turin from 18 to 22 February.
With a record of 10 wins and 3 defeats, despite the five point penalty, the Sicilians are sixth in the standings and join Brescia, Virtus Bologna, Venice, Milan and Tortona among the teams already qualified.
The certainty arrived two rounds early, thanks to Cremona’s defeat against Milan.
But the big question remains: will Trapani make it to February? And if he were to withdraw, which team would take his place in the event?
The open files and the new sanctions
The disciplinary situation becomes further complicated. In the next few hours the Federal Court will issue a ruling on the first file relating to a possible false declaration on payments to the Treasury. The verdict will be immediately enforceable.
On January 7, the second, even more delicate, procedure will be discussed alleged untrue statements on honors and outstanding balances declared paid at the time of registration for the 2025-26 championship. In this case thehypothesis of sports fraud.
Also weighing on the table are the many accumulated: 50 thousand euros for each match played without the 12 mandatory professional contracts, all to be paid by January 20th. To complicate the picture, a further file has emerged regarding an alleged double contract of a footballer, with different amounts recorded.
the latest developments
Trapani: salaries in order for the Sharks but the market remains blocked
The company has made the monthly payments for September and October, but the FIP confirms the impossibility of making memberships for previous debts. Meanwhile, the Lazio TAR rejects the football club’s appeal on the penalties.
From dream to crisis
The parable of Trapani is emblematic. After more than thirty years, the club was returned to Serie A in 2024 with important investments. The first season had exceeded all expectations: spectacular basketball, victories against the big teams, championship semi-final against Brescia and qualification for the Basketball Champions League. Antonini had declared that he had spent 20 million euros to revive sport in Sicily.
But already during the current season the first penalties for tax non-compliance had arrived. In the autumn the situation worsened: the departure of coach Jasmin Repeša and captain Amar Alibegović, who spoke of “unfulfilled agreements”, marked the breaking point. On November 24, the FIP blocked the transfer market, leaving the team without a coach and with only 11 registered players.
Possible scenarios
If Trapani did not show up in Bologna, there would be a default defeat and a cascade of new sanctions that could accelerate the club’s collapse. But even continuing in these conditions means playing in permanent emergency, calling into question the fairness of the competition.
The risk is twofold: a possible exclusion would alter the ranking and the results already achieved, while a team weakened and forced to take the field without the minimum conditions will still falsify the tournament. The Serie A championship thus finds itself hostage to a management crisis that goes beyond sport, calling into question the credibility of the entire system.
In the next few hours it will be understood whether the rift between Antonini and the institutions is truly irreparable or whether there is still a glimmer of hope to avoid an epilogue that would damage everyone: the club, the movement and above all the regularity of a championship that risks being decided outside the parquet.
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