Spal Earthquake, Mayor Fabbri Against Tacopina: “Whoever Betrayed Ferrara Cannot Continue to Represent Its Colors”

Ferrara, 8 June 2025 - "Whoever betrayed the city cannot continue to represent its colors. We cannot, neither as an administration nor as a city, continue to trust those who until the other day assured us that there would be no problems in registering for Serie C , and who suddenly without even an official statement, which arrived only yesterday with great lightness, declared that they had not provided the necessary payment for registration".

This is the clear message from Alan Fabbri , mayor of Ferrara, the day after Spal's relegation to the amateur league and the reasons presented by the club's president Joe Tacopina for the club's failure to register in Serie C.

"It is absurd to blame the city climate, the fans , those who have made great personal sacrifices to never leave the team alone, not even on the most distant away games. This relationship can no longer be mended in any way - explains Fabbri -. Even if the owners claim to have invested many resources, this does not mean that they have spent them in the most correct way. Judging by the results, I would say absolutely not. And this cannot be attributed to anyone other than the owners themselves. Another issue, the one that made me most nervous, is the message that I was able to grasp in yesterday's SPAL press release. Let it be clear to this and future owners: the identity of the city is not for sale . It never has been. Those who think they can hold it hostage will soon understand that they are wrong. This is unacceptable, ungenerous and intolerable behavior".

"And this is why, together with the Sports Councillor Francesco Carità , we are already working to build a restart from the bottom, with a new company and a new team, in full compliance with FIGC regulations. This territory - warns Fabbri - I know it well: we know how to restart. And this is demonstrated by the great response we are receiving in these hours from many interlocutors, entrepreneurs and entities ready to rebuild together a serious and transparent project, to bring SPAL back into the panorama of Italian football, where it deserves to be and to remain. Even in these hours we are in constant telephone contact with representatives of the FIGC, with whom we have already started a clear dialogue: we have communicated the city's desire to proceed independently with a new project and reiterated that the SPAL of the previous ownership no longer represents Ferrara. With them we are verifying every aspect related to the rights and prerogatives of the city in this new phase. Starting tomorrow, with the support of our lawyers - explains the mayor of Ferrara - we will start all the necessary checks on the rights related to the management of the stadium and on the other assets municipal currently available to the company".

"In these hours, another aspect that deeply saddens me - says Fabbri - is the communication received from the families and the boys of the youth sector : a message that in fact announces the dismantling of a sporting and human heritage that represented the future of our SPAL. To all the young athletes, their families, the coaches and those who have passionately built that sector in these years, goes our closeness and commitment to ensure that in the new project the youth sector returns to being a central point, because it is from the young people that the future of SPAL must start again. Now we need unity. Ferrara has already shown that it knows how to get up after every fall. And together, with those who truly love these colors and above all know their profound value, we will rebuild our SPAL. They will be long, very delicate days, in which we will need everyone's support. But we owe it to our city, for our boys and for their future", concludes the mayor of Ferrara.