CATANIA – Joe Tacopina still postpones the closing for the acquisition of Catania. In a long letter sent to us at 6 am, the American businessman explains, breaking a long silence, the reasons for the further postponement of his agreement with Sigi.
“Many journalists and fans have written to me asking me to give a signal – writes Tacopina in the letter sent to our editorial staff -, so even if I had chosen silence to allow SIGI to work without pressure, it is now my task and almost my duty to clarify some inaccurate information that I have read in the media over the last few weeks regarding the closing for the acquisition of Calcio Catania.
This inaccurate information skews the facts and confuses the reader. The news is very different and the actual passages of the story are irrefutable.
After many months of negotiations, we signed the preliminary contract in January 2021. The closing of the agreement, as known, was scheduled for February 26th.
I was ready to close on that date and had proven that I had the necessary funds as required by the contract; SIGI was not ready and able to proceed, at that date, because it did not have the many documents required, including the basic certifications attesting to the reduction of the debt.
Leaving the project would have been in full my legal rights but I didn’t do it for the love of the team, the city and the fans.
I consequently gave SIGI, appreciating the predisposition and the intention to double the efforts to reduce the necessary period, going beyond the difficulties also related to the technical and bureaucratic times, an extension of 60 days until April 26, new deadline in closing key.
In addition and with a great willingness to collaborate, I subsequently committed myself to the side of SIGI to guarantee the payment of salaries and the respect of other deadlines, sending 800,000 dollars.
It was a huge personal risk, not being the owner of Calcio Catania, but I faced it without hesitation because I love the city and the team and because I want to keep the club alive.
When I was asked to select the new manager, I chose Baldini, as I knew him and knew he would be the right person. The choice was also appreciated by the managers of Calcio Catania.
I repeat again, I did it for my great attachment to the team and to the city. Furthermore, this choice was closely linked to the awareness that we would have signed the transfer agreement on 26 April.
Ten days before the close of April 26, it is obvious in this kind of negotiation, it was absolutely necessary to receive all the documents, proving that all 12 conditions of the contract had been met.
I did not receive these documents from SIGI neither on April 16 nor on April 26: I recognize the commitment and I do not doubt the will but on the economic and legal level, based on the contract, it was necessary to produce the documents, not the reassurances.
Calcio Catania is also the heart for me, although someone has played to suggest something else, and it is because I dream of being able to lead the recovery of Catania, but the recovery of Catania can only come if the company is solid: reassurances are not enough but it takes attestations, documents and certifications, in the face of industrial plans articulated in the smallest details.
My work group and I have received informal emails with various updates on pending situations, an appreciable but insufficient signal: even today we do not have the official, fundamental and unavoidable feedback to close. In particular, these are documents necessary for the court to approve the debt relief plan, which is essential for enrollment in the next championship.
Also as regards the reduction of the debt by the competent regional bodies, we have not yet received any formal documents, only an informal email from SIGI: in the same, it is stated that the reduction will take place and it is certainly a very important element, but at the same time the need for the approval of the headquarters of the Revenue Agency of Palermo, not yet obtained, is emphasized.
For the second time, therefore, SIGI unfortunately does not find itself in a position to meet the indispensable obligations for closure.
One of the main reasons why we wanted to close and take control of Calcio Catania immediately is the need to plan the changes related to the next season, both in the sports and in the managerial sector, but the continuous postponements no longer make this planning possible.
If there is a closing at this point, it can only occur after the end of the championship.
As SIGI was unable to satisfy the substantive contractual clauses in time in the two circumstances mentioned, and being thus technically prevented from closing, we are finally forced to withdraw from the contract signed in January.
Despite the fact that once again I have full legal rights to abandon the project completely, this is the last thing I want to do and I am confident that I can negotiate a new agreement with SIGI, with more realistic and anyway updated dates and deadlines in light. of bureaucracy. The terms of the contract will have to be modified according to the new situation, given the failure to close on the scheduled dates.
This will all depend on SIGI and its work, which I follow with respect and attention, but I want to be clear that I spent 8 months traveling whenever necessary to Catania and I invested almost a million euros in costs and expenses, looking for to close this deal. I would be truly disappointed and regretted if this agreement for the acquisition of Catania did not end positively. I am still available and working with SIGI and its representatives, doing everything in my power to get the deal signed. Force Catania always ». Signed Joe Tacopina
At this point the ball passes to Sigi, who will have to clarify all the delays that the US lawyer attributes to the Etna consortium that owns the rossazzurra company.