Goodbye, Mister: Club President Joey Saputo’s statement

Upon hearing the news of Sinisa Mihajlovic’s death, Bologna president Joey Saputo released this statement to bolognafc.it:

“The news of Sinisa’s death grieves me deeply. I knew that his condition had deteriorated greatly in the last few days, yet it seemed impossible to receive this terrible news so soon. With Mihajlovic, we lose first of all an extraordinary and magnificent man, who knew how to alternate his famous grumpy demeanour with true sweetness and sympathy. We also lose a great champion, who, first as a player and then as a coach, gave so much to football. As president of Bologna, I would like to once again express my gratitude to him for what he did for our club in these three and a half years, despite the fact that his illness forced him into long hospital stays and painful treatments. The decision to relieve him of his duties, at a time when it had become impossible to continue such a complicated job under these difficult conditions, was, as I have already had the opportunity to say, the most painful of my entire tenure. Today, my thoughts go out to his mother Viktorija, his wife Arianna, his children and his entire family: I extend to them my gratitude and that of Bologna in the memory of a son, a husband, a father, of whom they will always be proud”.