Bologna, 6 May 2024 – The mayor of Bologna, Matteo Leporeproposed the conferment of honorary citizenship to the president of Bologna FC, Joey Saputo. The proposal will now go to the City Council for a vote.
“The link of Bologna with Joey Saputo – says Lepore – certainly comes from the commitment and passion with which he leads the BFC, which sees this season the culmination of many sacrifices and determination. But he doesn’t stop there. In the ten years since his arrival in the city Saputo has learned acto know and love Bologna. His increasingly longer periods of stay in the city and the attention he pays to bear witness to this many initiatives of our territory. This is why I proposed to the City Council to grant Saputo honorary citizenship, in recognition of his being fully part of our community. A valuable entrepreneura friend and full citizen of Bologna”.
Saputo’s response
The response did not take long Joey Saputo which, through an official note from Bologna, said he was honored by the proposal. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart the Mayor Matteo Lepore for the proposal to grant me honorary citizenship of Bologna – Saputo’s words – While awaiting the City Council’s pronouncement, I can only say that it would be for me a great honor: in these ten years, and especially in the last one, which I spent entirely in the city, I got to know Bologna hey Bologneseand today I feel like it integral part of this community. Furthermore, I believe that the club of which I amhonor of being president can and should play an important role valorisation of the territory which represents and also for this reason the Mayor’s proposal it makes me proud”.
A memorable season
An award for the fantastic season that the team is having, one step away from Champions Leagueand not only. From hell to heaven: Saputo took over the Bologna when it was in Serie B way back in 2014. At the time Joey was among the shareholders of the consortium headed Joe Tacopina, with the transition to chairman arriving in December of the same year. Then the promotion to Serie Athe disagreements with his partner and the presidency of the rossoblù club entrusted only to Saputo, always supported by the CEO Claudio Fenucci.
From then on, Joey managed to restore unexpected stability to the club in previous years, restoring the company’s accounts and consolidating it in Serie A for several years in a row. “Europe in 10 years”, Saputo had said upon his arrival. Mathematics is not an opinion and with exactly ten years of presidency, the Canadian can give Bologna and Bologna the Europe that he counts, bringing the club into theOlympus of the greatest.
A dream, become reality thanks to work by Thiago Motta and Giovanni Sartori, chosen to head the technical area in June 2022 after Bigon’s mandate. The music seems to have changed so much in Casteldebole and the feeling is that even the owner has been enticed by the splendid season of the rossoblù, which at worst they will still be in Europa League.
An undertaking that will bring a wave of enthusiasm to the fans and also visibility for an entire city, also recognized by Mayor Lepore with the proposal of honorary citizenship.
The award to Mihajlovic
The honorary citizenship of the city was assigned in 2021, not without some initial controversy, also to the then rossoblù coach Sinisa Mijailovicthen passed away due to illness.
