«Today I can say it, I really didn’t like how the final went against Catania. Between the two legs we should have won it. It’s always nice to win a trophy, so I was really sorry.” President Francesco Peghin, in addition to having renewed his commitment to Padua football, returns to the second leg of the Italian Cup final, lost against Catania, in the press conference in which he confirms his commitment both as a shareholder and as a minority shareholder. The majority remains firmly in the hands of Oughurlian, who Peghin met in London. «I’ll make it clear right away, all the resources will be used to improve the team, for nothing else». Round and round, always at Catania, after all, we return. Because from a sporting point of view, who knows how the season would have gone if what happened at the end of the first half of the first leg hadn’t happened, with the invasion of the pitch by around seventy Etna ultras. Apart from public order and the suitability of Euganeo, which we will return to shortly, that match was clearly one-sided in the first half but that changed when we returned to the pitch. The teams who didn’t even know what had happened but who played in a surreal atmosphere, to say the least, were also told by the players in the press room at the end of the match. The Etna goal, which rekindled their hopes for the return leg, was not in the air at all. At the end of the first half it was 2-0 for the biancoscudati, a very close result to say the least. The second half was meant to secure the trophy. But this was not the case with the facts we have cited.
That “not for anything else” from President Peghin, referring to resources, makes it clear that there would not be and will not be money to intervene as the commissioner Marco Odorisio ordered. Police commissioner who may not allow the use of the Euganeo for sporting events, with the consequences of the case, if there are not a series of interventions which have a cost of around four million euros. The Municipality has already made it known that that money is not there, even Padova in fact declares it openly. When asked directly, President Peghin sidestepped the question because it is clear that Calcio Padova has no intention of arguing with the Police Commissioner. A completely new situation because those who preceded Odorisio never made requests of this type. Even the municipal administration plays it down, but sooner or later the problems come home to roost.
«On our part there is the desire to do the best possible and as a Paduan I will do the best I can to do well», underlines Peghin. «The focus of resources will be on the team and on trying to pursue the objective. Anything else takes a back seat at the moment.” And here we are at the point. Given that the question was precisely on the guest curve, which at this point becomes almost more topical than the south, which we hope will truly be open to the public by the end of the year, Peghin involuntarily suggests Padova’s position on the issue. «We want to get out of this swamp and we have received disappointments», he says speaking of the C series. But it is in this passage where, if you want, between the lines, we find the answers to the many doubts that we have somehow raised. “We can’t think about building stadiums until we’re in Serie B or even beyond,” he says. A statement which, on the one hand, ends with a hope that today appears almost a chimera, on the other brings us back to reality. It will be played, in the swamp of Serie C, against Clodiense, Giana Erminio, Albonoleffe, Virtus Verona, to name a few. With all due respect, we don’t think we can say that we will host fans that are difficult to manage, given how many turn up at the Euganeo.
