Milan, April 20 (LaPresse) – “I was leaving for Italy, I was on the plane, I called Malagò and I told him: ‘Look, you have to take charge of Italian football because no one can do it better than you. You are an entrepreneur, you were at Coni, you created the most important club in Europe, you have sold Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Maserati all over the world.’” This was stated by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis upon arriving at the headquarters of the Football League before the extraordinary Assembly of Serie A, in which the clubs will meet former Coni president Giovanni Malagò, the candidate indicated by top-flight clubs for the elections for the next FIGC presidency on June 22. “Abete is a very dear friend, he is a gentleman I respect, his brother is a partner in one of my companies. But, from my point of view, he is not the right person to do this job. Then he may take offense at my statements, but in life we are used to expressing our thoughts in a democratic way,” De Laurentiis added.
« Abete est un très cher ami, c’est un monsieur que je respecte, son frère est associé dans une de mes sociétés. Mais, de mon point de vue, ce n’est pas la personne adaptée pour faire ce travail. Ensuite, il pourra peut-être se sentir offensé par mes déclarations, mais dans la vie nous avons l’habitude d’exprimer nos pensées en démocratie », a ajouté De Laurentiis.