«Everyone shut up or I’ll speak. I will meet the mayor to explain who is responsible”

ANCONA Here is the revived Tony Tiong. We were hoping for a decorous silence, but he still has the courage to speak. For the first time after last Tuesday’s sensational collapse – when Ancona missed the deadline for registering for Serie C – the virtual president comes out of the closet and suggests that he absolutely does not want to abandon the scene. Already the choice to speak through the law firm of the lawyer Stefano Giangrande of Milan is indicative of a belligerent predisposition towards the actors in the affair.

Tiong attacks

Tiong specifies that the aforementioned law firm will be the only source of information regarding his role within Ancona, effectively cutting out all the climbing partners who had supported him up to now, including the minority shareholder Mauro Canil and the CEO Roberta Nocelli. In his statement, the Malaysian explicitly states that he has decided to «appoint trusted professionals in order to represent me exclusively also in conversations with the press, to avoid the spread of news and information that is not truthful and does not respect the faithful evolution of the facts”. Therefore no one else is anymore entitled to speak in the name and on behalf of Tiong.

War signals

The Malaysian tycoon defends himself and counterattacks. Precise but also harsh words contained in his statement: «I firmly reiterate the goodness of all the activity I personally carried out in the interest of US Ancona, as well as the importance of the huge financial investments I have made to the club over time , and that the events that have emerged in the last few days will be carefully ascertained and reconstructed in the relevant offices, in terms of their causes, origins and responsibilities”. It seems clear that Tiong has every intention of unleashing an offensive to defend his image and the role played in these two years in which he assumed and held the presidency of Ancona. The reference to the “responsible offices” in which the “causes, origins and responsibility” of the “events that have emerged in recent days” will be ascertained seems to be a clear hint at the probable recourse to the judicial system. We’ll see if there really will be a legal battle and possibly who the actors involved will be. Certainly if Tiong spoke in these tones and with this timing it is easy to imagine how he profoundly disagrees with the reconstructions provided so far by his climbing partners in his Ancona adventure.

Meeting with the mayor

What is happening has led him to take action personally to protect his public image. The choice of a lawyer to represent and defend him in Italy testifies to Tiong’s willingness to go to the end and vindicate the goodness of his actions. This is also why the current red and white president intends to present himself at the meeting with mayor Silvetti, as confirmed in the press release: «The events that have been affecting the US Ancona club in recent days require us to intervene personally at the institutional headquarters and in the public debate, also to protect my honor and my work. I have accepted the invitation of the Mayor of Ancona to a future meeting, which can be held when I will be present in person in Italy to try to best manage the situation that has unfortunately arisen, and against all my intentions and wishes.” Words which reveal – incredibly – the intention to take charge of the outstanding accounts (with what money it is not clear), as already announced in a message to the players relating to the payment of outstanding salaries and to restore the integrity of his figure (it will take some work to get to this goal). The impression is that we are only at the beginning of a long dispute. While no one will return Serie C to Ancona and its fans.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Read the full article at
Adriatic Courier