Joseph Portelli acquires Italian football club Ars et Labor Ferrara
Marcel Bonnici named as Italian club's new Chief Executive Officer
Gozitan developer and Ħamrun Spartans president Joseph Portelli has been officially confirmed as the new owner of Italian Eccellenza club Ars et Labor Ferrara.
The agreement sees Portelli become the first Maltese football administrator to buy a foreign club.
The Ferrara-based club was in the Italian Serie A between 2017 and 2019 under the name of SPAL.
However, financial difficulties saw the club forced to declare bankruptcy in 2025, and it restarted in the Italian Eccellenza.
Ferrara Calcio Ars et Labor issued a statement to welcome Portelli as the new club owner and promised that the new ownership will do everything in their power to take the team where it deserves.
“We are pleased to announce that on July 9, 2026, Joseph Portelli, through JP Football Holding, will be the new owner of Ars et Labor Ferrara,” the statement said.
“The club’s acquisition is with immediate effect after an agreement with previous owners Juan Martin Molinari and Andres Adolfo Marengo.
Portelli's right-hand man, Marcel Bonnici, the CEO of Ħamrun Spartans has been appointed CEO of Ars et Labor with further appointments to be decided in the coming days.
Times of Malta reported last week how Portelli and Bonnici travelled to Rome on Friday to finalise the deal.
They met with Ars et Labor owner Andres Marengo to sort out the last few details of the deal that would see the Eccellenza club pass to the ownership of the Ħamrun Spartans president.
Sources had told Times of Malta that the Due Diligence process over the deal produced no negative responses; thus, the deal was set to be confirmed on Thursday.
Ferrara Calcio Ars et Labor issued a statement to welcome Portelli as the new club owner and promised that the new ownership will do everything in their power to take the team where it deserves.
“We are pleased to announce that on July 9, 2026, Joseph Portelli, through JP Football Holding, will be the new owner of Ars et Labor Ferrara,” the statement said.
“The club’s acquisition is with immediate effect after an agreement with previous owners Juan Martin Molinari and Andres Adolfo Marengo."
Portelli, a developer best known for his Mercury Towers hotel, restaurant and shopping district project, had long had ambitions to own an Italian football club.
Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com