Statement from the Chairman

First of all, I’d like to thank all of the Bolognesi, both organised groups and individual fans who have publicly condemned the disgraceful scenes outside the gates yesterday at Casteldebole. Claudio Fenucci, Riccardo Bigon and Marco Di Vaio are good people who have my full professional respect and I stand in solidarity with them. It remains a gravely serious incident, I would never have thought that such a thing could happen in Bologna and there is no way in which I can find a link between what happened and the genuine passion of the Rossoblu fans. I can’t see how a sport which should be a source of entertainment and a way of bringing people together can lead to threats being made against three people.

These three people have for months been receiving all sorts of insults on social media and by messages sent on radio and tv because the team isn’t getting the results that we hoped for this year. A line has been crossed and condemnation has rightly been unanimous. However, I believe that this disgusting incident must also be a chance for all to reflect. It is unacceptable that football is a pretext for the worst of all instincts which are often tolerated or even encouraged by certain commentators with access to infinite new media sources until the line is crossed and without any sense of editorial responsibility.

I came to Bologna four years ago and invested €50 million to save and rebuild the club. It has been a long and difficult task and we’re continuing with further significant capital investments. We’re ready to present refurbishment plans to the city that will make the Dall’Ara a cutting-edge stadium. We are aware first of all that results on the pitch aren’t good enough at the moment but we’ve always said that it will take time to get to a point where we’re no longer fighting to stay up and it will require the growth of the entire club from its foundations.

I’m sorry to see that a project such as this which is the only viable option for a club such as ours is met with an atmosphere of perennial dissatisfaction.

Joey Saputo