The Olbia Calcio championship ended with Sunday evening’s match but from today we start again with the plans and programs of the Olbia management branded SwissPro. Present at the Delta Center in Olbia Benno Raeber CSO of Swiss Pro e Klaus Schwedoeger president of the board of directors of the same Swiss company. Their speech, strictly in English, made use of the collaboration of Massimiliano Varrucciu press officer and marketing manager for the occasion, translator of the statements and answers to the countless questions from the reporters.
“Before even submitting to journalists’ questions – Benno Reaber starts immediately – I would like to touch on some delicate topics. Meanwhile, I greet everyone. I saw many of you in November, others I often see at the stadium. Let’s start by saying that the 2023/24 season is over and from now on we start working for the next one.
I thank all the staff of Olbia Calcio, without exception, from the secretariat, to the coaches, players and operational staff and everyone who was involved in this adventure. Undoubtedly mistakes have been made this season and we must start from here to plan for the future. I would like to clarify some things regarding the press releases that have been issued in recent months. At that precise moment it was a duty to let people know what was happening, both to deny the untrue news circulating in the city and to tell what we support.”
Benno Reaber continues directly, with a calm but decisive tone in his speech. “Let’s get straight to the point, I’ll give you an answer to a question that might come up. The club is not in danger of bankruptcy. Olbia’s financial situation is not as good as we thought it would be. There are debts on the balance sheet and some of these are quite important but we are proceeding with the restructuring of these. There are some creditors who think we will not pay our debts, we are working together with them to move forward and resolve this problem. Another question I’m sure you’ll ask is do we have the money for the project? We have two projects, one is the football team and the other is the stadium and for the team and the championship we have the funds to move forward. As regards the stadium project, since it is a much, much bigger project we have to turn to financial partners.
What is the plan for the stadium?
“The most important thing is to know that ours is not just a project for the football stadium, but we would like to create a multifunctional facility not only for football, but a place where events can be held, a location where citizens will be able to meet because around the stadium, hotels, restaurants and shops and any other structure useful for the city and not just for the club will be built. On this aspect, the Mayor of Olbia also said he was available to support any initiative that brings wellbeing to the city.
To support the project, the stadium and the team, will you do it with your own money or will you look for partners?
For the team we will use the company’s liquidity while for the stadium the use of financial partners will be natural.
How much is the company’s debt position?
The debt is more than you could imagine.
You talked about administrative anomalies bringing up former President Alessandro Marino, is this why you intend to take legal action against him?
“We would not like to go to court but to find an agreement out of court with anyone involved in this problem”
How do you acquire a company without thoroughly checking its balance sheet debt items?
Ironically he replies “Accounting is not an exact science. There are debts that were expected to be repaid in the medium term and which instead were requested immediately.”
But was due diligence carried out during the acquisition phase to understand the club’s situation?
“It was done regularly through the examination of the company’s documents, sent to the FIGC and analyzed by COVISOC which were not exactly aligned with the real situation”.
There is talk of an American fund that was supposed to guarantee the liquidity necessary to face the championship just ended but it would seem that this American fund would then have backed out.
“In the meantime, the news circulating should be verified, it is not an American fund (Cayman Islands ed.) but there are agreements that we cannot disclose at this moment”.
Is there a desire on your part to acquire the remaining 30%?
“The three partners of the old management have our offer on the table, obviously we don’t agree on the figures but we are negotiating, we don’t speak directly with the partners but the negotiation moves to the lawyers’ table.
We then move on to talking about football.
What are the plans for the team in view of the next football match?
“The plans are to immediately return to Serie C, starting first from the request for repechage, otherwise enrolling in the Serie D championship and aiming for direct promotion. We have the financial resources to support the repechage and to build a winning team in the Serie D championship.”
The first step will be the appointment of the Sports Director, this role is currently occupied by Tomaso Tatti who is still under contract, will he still be in the role next year?
“At the moment – given the relegation – no one from the technical area anymore has a contract, so far we have three names, two Italians and one foreigner. One thing is certain that a sporting event like football must have the hallmarks of fun and involvement. So we will look for those who want to play modern and attractive football.”
At a first impression it would seem that the current director of the Technical Area Tomaso Tatti is not part of the plans of the new management, all this does not cancel the activity carried out by Tatti in these years in which he has always stood out for his competence and ability
Will Ninni Corda be part of the Olbia Calcio team?
“No Ninni Corda is a consultant for Swiss Pro. The priority for this season will be the search for players from the area (understood as Sardinia) suited to our needs”.
Will the partnership with Cagliari continue?
“There are some players who couldn’t play for Cagliari in Serie A which is why we will leave the doors open. Priority will go to local footballers, then we will look nationally and why not also in South America.”
The old management didn’t have a great feeling with the square, what do you tend to do to improve the connection with the city fabric?
“First of all we will try to create a sporting event worthy of everyone’s attention. We will try to create a show capable of involving the territory.”
Where do we start from for the next competition?
“We are convinced that the current squad has not been well assembled, we will start again from those who will be happy to stay. Anyone who wants to stay in Olbia both in Serie D and – possibly – in Serie C can come and talk to us about it.”
As always, words will have to be followed by actions and everyone is waiting for the first concrete moves.
