There is a good chance that Salernitana has already played his last game in Serie A. The league’s bottom line has the same owner as Lazio, which is against the rules of the Italian Football Association (FIGC). The deadline to find a new owner expires on December 31, and everything points to it not being met. How did it come to this for the team that stunted last summer with the signing of Franck Ribéry?
Ten years ago, Salernitana was already dangling on the brink of collapse. The then Serie C club was declared bankrupt in July 2011 after prolonged financial difficulties. Entrepreneur Claudio Lotito jumped in with his brother-in-law Marco Mezzarona to save the club and worked under their wing i Granata moved up from Serie D (to which Salernitana had been relegated due to bankruptcy) to, eventually, Serie A.
Salernitana fans celebrate for promotion to Serie A (May 2021).
Salernitana’s resurrection was largely due to the input of Lazio mercenaries. It was a solution for both clubs. Salernitana could use the quality boost and Lazio needed a place to let their talents gain experience. Because Lotito owned both clubs, the lines were short. Within the season, Salernitana was promoted to Serie C2; promotion to Serie B was a fact four years later.
Even then, it was against the rules of the FIGC to own multiple professional clubs. Salernitana, however, had been given an exception just to stay alive. To prevent Salernitana and Lazio from meeting each other, the FIGC used to juggle the draw for years. However, the association could not rule it out completely: it was relied on the small chance that this would happen.
Lazio and Salernitana meet (November 2021).
Although Serie A came closer and closer (Salernitana played in Serie B from 2015 before the club promoted second to the highest level at the end of last season), Lotito did nothing. Once it happened, “everyone knew what was going to happen,” said FIGC President Gabriele Garvina. The association could no longer circumvent the rules – the club had to be sold. “No problem”, Lotito said about this last May.
It did become a problem. The initial deadline to find a buyer expired last summer, but Salernitana was given a postponement until December 31. For that, Lotito had to give the club a blind trust leave behind. The club owner thus promised to waive any knowledge of or any right to intervene at Salernitana. The reins fell into the hands of trustees, who tried with all their might to find a buyer. In mid-December, a Luxembourg investment fund claimed via news agency Adnkronos to have made another offer, but this was never formalized.
Frank Ribéry is disappointed after the 0-1 loss against Napoli (October 2021).
Salernitana’s last scheduled game, a game against Udinese on December 28, was canceled due to a corona outbreak. The Serie A adventure of the club of Ribéry, among others, seems to go out like a candle. Salernitana still has until midnight, but the question is whether they can still go to the banks because of New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year, but not for i Granata.