That the results gained in the field since Bari in the championship of B series are decidedly disappointing, it is clear to all football fans, but what happened yesterday, Sunday 5 May, goes far beyond the merely sporting aspect and the limit that complaints from fans should always reach.
The facts
Returning from the trip to Cittadella, where the red and whites managed to scrape together a point that does not allow them to get out of the dangerous relegation zone, the club’s sporting director Ciro Polito he had the misfortune of meeting four fans who had followed the team all the way to Veneto. The episode occurred a few hours after the final whistle inside a service station located near Occhiobello along the A13 Padua – Bologna.
Evidently furious at yet another seasonal disappointment, as well as totally oblivious to the fact that the sporting director was in the company of his wife at that moment, the fans they contested Polito, giving rise to a heated debate: someone went from words to deeds, and the sporting director was apparently pushed and slapped. The troublemakers then drove away in a car, losing track of themselves.
Immediately after the episode, the police and Digos men arrived on the scene and are now working to shed light on the incident and identify the troublemakers: the hope is that the images of theaggression filmed by surveillance cameras installed inside the petrol station. Polito, moreover, was the only member of Bari, unlike the players and staff members, who did not use the plane to return home.
Bari’s position
The red and white club immediately issued a press release to show its support for the sporting director. “SSC Bari expresses closeness and solidarity to DS Ciro Polito, victim yesterday evening of a real attack which took place, by unknown persons, after the Cittadella-Bari match“, we read in the official note. “The red and white manager, while he was parked in a truck stop on the way back from the Venetian city, he was reached and verbally and physically attacked by a group of unknown persons who immediately afterwards disappeared“, the statement continues.
“The competent authorities that intervened immediately started the procedures for identifying the subjects responsible. The red and white club strongly condemns what happened at the hands of ‘cowards’ who have nothing to do with Bari fans and sport. While waiting for justice to take its course, when reason gives way to violence we have already lost everyone”concludes the note.
Endless crisis
With just one matchday to go before the end of the championship, Bari finds itself embroiled in the relegation zone, occupying third to last place in the standings with 38 points. The hopes of saving themselves directly and also avoiding the play-off playoff are few, given that the last match will be against Brescia, in the playoff zone in eighth position: the Lombards will try to score points to avoid the clash with Catanzaro, and the same will have to be done by the cockerels to stay attached to the goal of remaining in Serie B.
It won’t be easy, given that the roadmap of the red and whites is disheartening.
Bari has not won since the home match against FeralpiSalò on February 17th: since then there have only been 5 draws and 7 defeats.
