Bari halfway: "no" to the sale, new partner ready

BARI - The competitive season ended with interest in football at an all-time low. At a certain point, after witnessing a series of disturbing performances due to poor technique and poor character, ninety percent of the fans no longer cared about the pursuit of the playoff zone. There is a limit to everything and, after two seasons full of humiliations, the people of Bari have thrown in the towel. The only topic capable of arousing appeal remains the corporate issue. The De Laurentiis family's season, here, seems to be coming to an end. And there doesn't seem to be any margin. Perhaps not even in the face of a team that is finally competitive.

These are quite tasty days in terms of rumors , there is a lot going on. With an American wind that, day by day, gives the impression of getting closer to the capital of Puglia. It is necessary to clarify, however. In these parts, with everything that has happened in recent years (even before the arrival of the De Laurentiis), it is absolutely forbidden to sell smoke. And illusions. There are movements underway, this seems to be something very close to reality. But the sale of Bari to a new majority shareholder is not at stake. To date, on the table of Filmauro there is no sale of the red and white club. But only the opening to the entry of a minority partner in the share package. There is talk of 30%, or thereabouts.

The De Laurentiis issue, it must be reiterated, is not a matter of likes or dislikes. The people of Bari want an ambitious ownership. And, therefore, a team that shows up at the start of Serie B with the goal of winning it. The hope that the right combination will be created, between chemistry and various alchemies, to eliminate the gap with the big teams is no longer enough. And so, from this point of view, the potential entry of a partner... hopefully it could be the prelude to a different attitude in terms of programming. Nobody expects Filmauro to do crazy things. They don't do it in Naples either. It's just that in the shadow of Vesuvius, championships are won and the highest goals are competed for, often even in Europe. The people of Bari cannot be children of a lesser God, that's the only point. Nor can they accept that the same ownership moves with completely different strategies. The De Laurentiis know how to play football and have been demonstrating it for twenty years. Why can't Bari also ask for the same commitment? Maybe because it is convenient to have a second team that is functional and strategic to the first? Possible, even probable. But now enough. The time has come to play with open cards.

Someone tell us what the plan is for Bari. Someone tell us about these differences. And explain to us why Bari and Naples are so close (same "father") but so terribly far. One treated like a jewel, the other almost abandoned to itself. Luigi De Laurentiis, they say, is dying to take a good revenge. With a limited budget, which is certainly not his fault, but with the mad desire to demonstrate, even to the top of Filmauro, that taking "slaps" is a humiliation that, in the long run, risks leading to a short circuit. Human and personal even before on a professional level.

The problem is that playing at being Bari without investments equal to ambitions is like gambling. It can succeed, of course. As, after all, two years ago before that cursed night at the "San Nicola". But history tells another story. Forgetting it, or worse, pretending nothing happened, would be the gravest mistake. Unacceptable.