Barletta 1922, between shadows and divisions

«Judge me for what I will do». The poster of the press conference to present the new president of Barletta 1922 Marco Arturo Romano is all here. The engineer who came from Viterbo broke the monotony of the countless negotiations that have accompanied us in recent months by acquiring 60% of the company: is everything okay? Yes, or maybe not. Over him, in addition to the shadows coming from Lazio and characterized by the stormy farewell to Viterbese, first guided for 4 years in C and then “abandoned” in Promotion, there is an even bigger shadow: that of Mario Dimiccoli. 40% of the red and white club is in fact in the hands of Francesco Dimiccoli, son of the now former honorary president. This, beyond the explanations provided by Romano which indicate the presence of the Dimiccoli’s as a guarantee to avoid finding oneself faced with unexpected previous debts, undoubtedly represents a huge burden on the shoulders of a new president who will have to demonstrate that he is credible and has made a clean break with the past. Wanting to make a cycling comparison, Romano will have to climb the Mortirolo with a ride worthy of the best Pantani to win the trust of a public worn out by a disastrous football season and a post-relegation month of chatter, bluffs and scattered negotiations. As always, the facts will count, but the doubts remain and there are many.

Against the background of this new course, which is not completely new, there is Michele Dibenedetto with his Audace project. In the end Romano bought the famous “packet of chips” and there was nothing he could do. The Audace project, which will perhaps soon become Barletta Calcio Sport, is animated by Barletta entrepreneurs willing to play football and to do it with clarity and authenticity. All beautiful, for goodness sake, but it is not the Barletta 1922 which is and remains only one, without any kind of discussions. Dibenedetto knows it, all those who accompany him know it, and creating a dualism can only be useless and harmful. Inevitably, however, this is happening: the people of Barletta are divided, there are those who no longer want to hear about Dimiccoli (practically the vast majority of the city) and say they want to follow Audace (this however is a small minority). There are those who are ready to follow Barletta only away, but do not contemplate the possibility of following Audace. Both teams will play at the “Puttilli”, both are awaiting a possible repechage (some in Serie D and some in Promotion) and both show ambition. A scenario, the one we are going to face, which frankly we would have liked to avoid and which arises, needless to say, from one person in charge in particular: Mario Dimiccoli. Yes, that’s him.

His obstinacy in not letting go, because he hasn’t let go, is wearing down the increasingly disoriented people of Barletta. His absence alongside Romano in the press conference (by the way, excellent move) is, to date, just a decoy and the hostage is far from having been left. Moreover, in the pathetic letter of apology to the city for the relegation (an insult to the intelligence of the fans) which arrived after the deadline there is no trace of farewell. Time is a gentleman and will tell us the truth, as it always happens. We wanted to give a different, more serious and reflective edge to today’s editorial. For this reason we no longer ask the classic 11 questions to Dimiccoli (who knows, maybe one day he will answer), but we want to ask one to anyone who wants to answer us and it is the one that is holding the spotlight among all the red and white fans.

From Wednesday 5 June at 11.30 am, looking to the right of Marco Arturo Romano, everyone will ask themselves: who is Paolo? Again, time will tell.