Daniel BIANCO, Luca CALANDRO, Fabio COCIVERA, Mario DEL PRETE, Generoso FALIVENE, Antonio FRAGNITO, Francesco FURNO, Luca MARTINELLI, Pietro PASCUCCI, Gerardo POLIZIA, Francesco ROMANO and Antonio TORNUSCIOLO wrote an open letter to the pro tempore president of US Rugby Benevento , Rosario Palumbo, in which they urge a change of direction and the calling of new elections.
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Dear President Palumbo,
toWe waited for the end of the sports season before making this open letter public, in order not to further upset the athletes of the Benevento Rugby first team, who were involved in the playouts until early June to remain in the Serie B championship.
Unfortunately, we cannot help but express our disappointment at Rugby Benevento’s relegation to Serie C.
It is not easy to draw a realistic picture of the state of current society:
▪ The First Team, which over the years has established itself as one of the best teams in Southern Italy, today finds itself having to face a Serie C championship;
▪ There is no under 18 team, a very serious sign for a sports club like Rugby Benevento, which should find its lifeblood precisely from the youth sectors, which in previous years have excelled at a national level, managing to churn out talents of international level and to boast, even , of the title of Italian Champions 3 times;
▪ The number of mini rugby members is small and at an all-time low, a clear symptom of shortcomings in the management of the sector;
▪ The management of the company is entrusted to a Board of Directors, of which to date neither the number of members nor their identity is known, which should be elected by a meeting of members, i.e. players, managers, founding members and by deserving members. As stated in the Statute drawn up by the founding fathers of Rugby Benevento, the Council itself appoints the president. Well, it seems necessary to point out that the last elections took place way back in 2015, nine years ago, and that the Board of Directors elected at the time should have remained in office for four years. It is not clear what the reasons were for the failed 2019 elections and we ask you, President, for explanations.
There are many people, rugby players, fans of this sport and fans of Rugby Benevento, who over the years have not shared the corporate choices of the current management and have distanced themselves from “Dell’Oste”, rather than accepting conditions which, in some way , would have diminished the values that this noble sport teaches us.
As in any structured reality, not just sporting, when for too long the management is entrusted to the same exponents and the results struggle to arrive, indeed we witness, as in the case of Rugby Benevento, a slow and sad decline, the best solution is that to change and give space to those with different ideas, perspectives and approaches.
A group of rugby players, who have lived on the field for years, both as players and collaborators, supported by many people who care about the future of Rugby Benevento, are ready to apply to represent an alternative to the current management.
To this end we ask, in compliance with the democratic principles set out in our Statute, the current Board of Directors, chaired by President Palumbo:
1. Know the economic and financial health of the Rugby Benevento company, with the relevant formal documentation required by law and reporting any corporate debts;
2. View the current company bylaws in order to find out if any changes or adjustments have been made according to the regulations set out in Legislative Decree 36/2021;
3. Have a complete list of members, in order to gather consensus and then call an extraordinary meeting during which a new corporate organizational chart will be displayed, correlated with a detailed program and new elections for management positions will be requested;
4. Get to know the current members of the Board of Directors and Sector delegates.
We trust in a prompt response from the current Board of Directors, in order to put in place a perfect level playing field among the potential candidates for the office of president, in compliance with the principles of the Statute, in order to avoid a repetition of “failed elections”, as already happened in 2019.
We appeal to all those who have collaborated in the past and who still collaborate with the company, to all those who have shed sweat, tears and blood for these colours, asking them not to hide, but to sign this letter and support the our cause, to show the current management the multitude of people who are loudly asking for a change and, above all, to help us realize our dream, bringing Rugby Benevento back to the stages it deserves and which over the years it has achieved with effort and sacrifice.
Finally, we ask the Italian Rugby Federation and the Campania Regional Committee to verify the correctness of the electoral process carried out to date by the Board of Directors of US Rugby Benevento.
