Floriana FC, the sleeping giants of Maltese football, will be managed by an Italian consortium led by Riccardo Gaucci following a second vote in as many days held yesterday to determine the new club presidency.
The Floriana committee convened members for an extraordinary general meeting on Saturday to decide on a new administrative team following the exit of former president Stephen Vaughan Jr a couple of weeks back.
Gaucci, the 37-year-old son of former AC Perugia owner Luciano Gaucci, had long shown his interest in Floriana FC but the first vote on Saturday produced a tie as members were equally split between the Italian’s proposal and the one put forward by Mike Farnan, an English businessman who had links with Sheffield United a few years back.
The special board appointed by the club to evaluate the two offers decided for a second vote but first sought more financial guarantees from the two bidding parties, something which only Gaucci was prepared to table before the deadline on Saturday.
At that juncture the board said they were satisfied with Gaucci’s assurances and the documents provided. After an urgent meeting they announced the club was only ready to consider the Italian group’s offer while discarding that of Farnan who was represented by Dubai-based entrepreneur Medi Tozar at the EGM.
It is believed that Gaucci’s project, which includes development at the Independ-ence Arena, is valued at between €14m and €18m.
The board, however, still deemed it fit that the new Floriana FC president should get the backing of the members which Gaucci obtained comfortably in yester-day’s second ballot, getting 162 in favour from over 180 votes cast.
Saturday’s first ballot had produced an unexpected 93-93 stalemate with one member abstaining his vote.
Sources told The Times of Malta that Tozar tried to revive the English bid before yesterday’s second round of voting got underway, saying Farnan had all guarantees the club had required to be considered for the presidency.
However, the board of evaluation stuck to their first decision to consider Gaucci’s project only and turned down Tozar’s late move to get his group back into the reckoning.
Following Vaughan’s departure, many at Floriana FC, who last won the national championship in 1993, had thought that Gaucci’s path to the takeover was smooth and without problems.
He is also reported to have had meetings with Malta FA officials regarding his interest and investment in local football.
But in the last few weeks Farnan’s group had gathered significant support only to fall short at the final hurdle.
Adressing members at the end of the EGM yesterday, Gaucci explained his vision for the team and the club.
He stated that his top priority was to invest in the club with immediate effect.