Gianluca Paparesta, former international referee and president of Bari from 2014 to 2016. Yesterday he was fully acquitted of the accusation of having contributed to the bankruptcy of the club, which occurred in 2019 with Cosmo Giancaspro as president. How did you experience this story?
«Very bad, because for years it characterized my life in a negative way. Now I live in Milan and I do something else, I’m an accountant. I don’t rule out returning to football, I have had offers but I preferred to definitively clarify my non-involvement in this matter. My nightmare began when, after giving life to that sporting project in which I blindly believed, I couldn’t find anyone who could support me. And it continued when I found myself involved in the failure of Bari, for which I had no responsibility. Luckily this horrible period of my life is over.”
He said he was “excluded” by those who ran the company after her. But does he have any mistakes to blame for?
«Yes, one of these was getting carried away by enthusiasm without having the appropriate resources. I needed partners to help me, I looked among local entrepreneurs and was unsuccessful. I should have publicized this request for help better. And I ended up trusting the wrong people.”
Among these is also the Malaysian Dato Noordin?
«Of course, but I believed in him. I personally went to Malaysia, met the king, he had the economic capabilities he spoke of. But then the money that had been promised never arrived. He told me that the transfer of his assets to Italy was blocked. We had an agreement on a capital increase of very significant figures.”
If you could go back, would you still be president of Bari?
«No, it cost me all my life savings. And many people approached me who disappeared when things went wrong. Among the few who did not do so, the lawyer Gaetano Sassanelli and Antonio De Feo, member of the board of directors who passed away last month. He too lost out.”
The best and worst match of his management?
“The most beautiful Bari-Latina, playoff semi-final, when a stadium that has been empty for too many years is filled. The worst was the 3-4 draw with Novara two years later, still in the playoffs. I realized that a project in which I had believed and invested was slipping out of my hands.”
And from your life as a referee, is there a match that you remember in particular?
“Live Lazio-Inter on 5 May 2002 on the pitch, when the announced celebration turned into a collective tragedy for an entire population (the Inter fans, ed.), it made me understand the brutality of football.”
Would you have liked to referee with VAR?
«It would have been a godsend. It is a great opportunity that referees should seize more carefully, humanizing the decisions made. But this only risks making the race director less responsible.”
