ANCONA The Ancona crash, with the failure to register for Serie C, increasingly takes on the characteristics of a fiction. Macabre, as the developments have been. After the pec from minority shareholder Mauro Canil sent yesterday (9 June) to Corriere Adriatico with accusations against president Tony Tiong, today the statement from CEO Roberta Nocelli also arrived
The note
«In these three years here in Ancona, I have always worked for the good of the club and with the utmost respect towards the members, towards every single member and employee and towards every single fan. I have never spared myself. This season was blood and tears from a sporting point of view, ending in joy for the salvation achieved on the pitch. I should have resigned immediately after the match against Lucchese; I had achieved the most important goal but I was not satisfied with all the other aspects: internal relationships, roles but not because I thought I would not meet the federal deadline.
The President was with us only on that day and then left the next day. I arranged my trip to Hong Kong with him. I certainly didn’t go to negotiate the sale of the Ancona, which has been denied several times to me personally and also through official press releases, in fact on that occasion Tiong reported that he had received offers and that he hadn’t taken them into consideration, I think I also said this on the radio in a recent speech of mine. In Hong Kong, in light of the events of the entire season, I presented my resignation to the President and councilor Postacchini, putting Tony Tiong in the position of choosing an administrator and a general manager of his trust. I didn’t ask for severance pay; I only asked him to identify the people he deemed appropriate; I made it clear to him that I could collaborate or leave without any problem, underlining that I did not have an expiring contract. The President told me he needed me and didn’t want another administrator, so I made specific requests regarding financial, sporting and organizational management. We talked about the sums needed for the deadlines, the suppliers to pay. He told me that the necessary amount was important, certainly in July 2023 I had provided precise indications on the financial needs and the budget based on the investments provided to me in turn by the president and on the agreements made at the company meeting that had taken place held at Lake Como in the presence of the members and the Board of Directors in May 2023, so there was no surprise. In order of urgency, we would have issued the guarantee and the tax and salary deadlines for June 4th. He also added that given the very tight deadlines, the secretary and I would have to work hard, which we did every day. In the following weeks I requested payment of the sums for the guarantee several times, which in fact was then issued and which I personally delivered to the League (even in advance of the deadline), in addition to all the documentation already deposited in Lega Pro, at least a week before, thus completing the registration process for the championship, while waiting for the last funds to arrive to meet the payments due. More funds arrived on Friday 1 June and the President had reassured that other funds would arrive on Monday 3 June. On Monday 3 June, the funds that were supposed to arrive from the President had not arrived in the account and therefore I began to request them again through an email to the board of directors and keeping the members informed. On Tuesday morning at 3.00, the President reiterated to me and the other councilor Postacchini about the possibility of an investor and that the funds would arrive from Italy otherwise there would not be enough time for the transfer, asking me the closing time of the banks. Throughout the day there were also phone calls with other trusted interlocutors of his, until then unknown to me, to monitor the situation. During the lunch break, convinced of the goodness of the events, I rushed to Matelica to leave the bank transfer slips to be made instantly, since after 1pm the transfers arranged by the portal would have taken effect on 5 June.
The funds never arrived. The hours passed and the desperation multiplied. We had organized a meeting with the youth sector coaches with Mr. Boscaglia, but unfortunately the circumstance forced us to talk about something else. At 10pm I was contacted by a person, who in turn allowed me to interact with an entrepreneur willing to invest in US Ancona, I received the bank transfer account which is also deposited in COVISOC and I hoped with all my being that I could perform a miracle. I never said that I sent the transfers to the players at 11.59pm and above all there was never an order from the police station to show any palliative to calm the fans. The following morning, together with other people, we tried to understand if everything had been successful, but the operation was not successful. These are the facts and the consequence is that Ancona will not participate in the next Serie C championship.
I didn’t feel like leaving everything, abandoning people in such a delicate moment.
Someone, with the benefit of hindsight and without living in the moment, knowing the people and the internal dynamics, says that I should have, at least a week before the deadline, resigned and talked about the fact that there was a lack of funds for salaries and F24, but at that time I was doing the suretyship and the funds were arriving. There were many thoughts. If I stayed it was first and foremost because I was convinced that the funds would arrive (for all the reasons I explained before); furthermore, I feared that with my resignation and subsequent declarations I would put in difficulty a person who has already invested around 7 million euros in this company, with the danger that he would then no longer even want to pay the sum necessary for the guarantee; but, if I had behaved like this, at that point an amount would have been needed which would have been unacceptable for any person, including the other partner who had already given his availability. Serious people don’t put money into a company without knowing the financial situation and this aspect involves important times, now I have proof of this. It wasn’t just my trust that was betrayed, a city was betrayed. I have always been told that the delay in the arrival of the funds was due to a temporary and transitory difficulty in transferring the necessary sums from abroad; and I had no reason to doubt. It wasn’t the first time but everything was always put in order also with the help of the minority shareholder who partially received back the funds made available. Tiong reiterated over and over again that he would fulfill his commitments, buy the land, choose the sporting director, share the budget with the other partner for next year and establish that some players were untouchable. Given the profile of the majority shareholder and his daily interest in the club’s football affairs and in every initiative we were organizing (even the summer camp for young people, not to mention his interest in planning the next season of the club from every point of view first team), I could never have imagined this epilogue. I wanted to respect this company because I have always had trust. I spoke on the radio last month about personnel costs and debts to suppliers which are currently updated up to and including the month of June, I hadn’t talked about credits because usually nobody is interested and there was no reason, but they are there . Every time I talked about the things I was planning with the President or with the kids from the youth sector, they were all real, from the third shirt (beautiful) to the summer camps and everything in between. Last week, Tiong confirmed to the Mayor his imminent arrival in Italy; nothing – I repeat – suggested what then happened.
Together with Tiong we spoke via video call with two sporting directors and we reflected on the profile that Ancona would need. On Wednesday last week, during an informal meeting of the Board of Directors, asked by me to take stock of the financial situation, my specific question was: “Boscaglia is coming to Ancona tomorrow; is everything okay? Can he come up?” – Tiong replied: “Why shouldn’t he?”. This was a further sign of calm. I may have made a lot of mistakes, I may suffer any kind of humiliation, but I have not betrayed anyone. I fall into that group of people who feel abandoned, rather, by those who were supposed to finance the company; if I stayed, I certainly didn’t do it to protect my salary (far from substantial). I never thought of saving Ancona alone, remaining in my role I involved the people who could and should be involved. I stayed to do everything I could until the end and I preferred to stay, fight and try everything. During the season I always kept the board of directors updated on financial needs and the internal situation, always trying to solicit answers and decisions. I read little Niccolò’s letter, he is right: we stole his dream. I apologize to him and to the whole world of Ancona, I also apologize on behalf of those who, in reality, did not understand what they threw away. In any case, I explained to the entire Board of Directors and members the absolute importance of this deadline, this was the real deadline. I’m trying to figure out how to repay the dues, I have never stolen anything or even scammed people. Today it is easy to make judgments and this is the world of football: it gives you a lot and then takes it all away in an instant. Everyone asked me to stay in my place: Tiong in the meeting in Hong Kong, Canil and also Mayor Silvetti, to facilitate any operation to save this company. I bet that if I remain as the only interlocutor and the operation doesn’t go through, it will be my fault. If it succeeds, it will be thanks to others. But everyone thinks that if I resign, I’m a coward. I didn’t disrespect anyone, maybe just myself. Rumors have circulated about a meeting with the Mayor where he would have proposed that other entrepreneurs join the company and I would not have accepted it, there is nothing further from the truth. We have never talked about this topic but only to establish the date of the notarial deed of the sports center. Other rumors say that I am an accomplice of someone in order not to register Ancona to favor who knows what, this is even worse, if this turns out to be true certainly not by my hand.
To date, I’m still working with Lega Pro and the accountant to ensure that if there are people interested in this club they don’t miss the opportunity to save what can be saved.
In these last hours, I spoke with Vincenzo Guerini, clarifying to him that – contrary to some rumors circulating – he had been a very welcome guest of ours at the Cascia retreat in the summer of 2022 and none of us had suffered the burden of his presence, indeed he had been an honour. My thoughts are with everyone, no one excluded. To every member of this club who gave over 100%, to all the children, to the fans, to the city of Ancona. I also make a reflection for those people who are destroying my image in every way, I understand their anger because I have a lot of it too, but in my role I couldn’t have done more than what I did, beyond what is possible. This statement of mine does not return Serie C to Ancona nor is it a personal defense.
I’m going through hell, like everyone else.
I lost my dream, our dream the one I neglected my children for.
Because for me it wasn’t just a job, it was my family, my home.
Roberta Nocelli”
