Cagliari are set to be Serie A's
third foreign-controlled club after owner Massimo Cellino told
ANSA Wednesday that he has agreed to sell the Sardinian outfit
to an American consortium.
Cellino, who took over Cagliari in 1992, has been looking
for a buyer for the club since taking over English Championship
(second-tier) side Leeds United earlier this year.
"I'm really happy," Cellino told ANSA. "God bless them
(the new owners). Now they'll be the ones fighting the
bureaucracy".
Cellino has had a series of disputes with the local
authorities over development of Cagliari's ground that caused
the team to play a number of home games some 1,000 kilometres
away from Sardinia in Trieste in recent years.
This season they played their home games at the
dilapidated Sant' Elia ground with a capacity of below 5,000
because parts of the stadium were declared unfit for use.
However, part of the reason why Cagliari have attracted
overseas investors is that the club have won preliminary
clearance to build a new stadium in the city, which could be
turned into a good source of revenue, as shown by the examples
of Juventus and many foreign sides.
Cellino will receive an initial payment of 10 million
euros from the American consortium, according to media reports,
followed by 67 million more on approval of the project to
develop the stadium.
Italian businessman Luca Silvestrone, who is representing
the American consortium, said Cellino had agreed that the deal
will fall through if local red tape makes obstacles to building
the ground "insurmountable".
Silvestrone added that the people who are behind the
consortium will be revealed shortly.
So far the only person known to be on board is American
architect Dan Meis, who will design the new ground having
creating the project for the stadium AS Roma are building in the
Italian capital.
Roma, Serie A runners-up in the campaign that has just
ended, became the Italian top flight's first foreign-controlled
club when a Bostonian consortium took over in 2011.
Last year Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir took over
three-time European champions and 18-time Serie A title winners
Inter Milan.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
