Ħamrun Spartans have announced that they reached an agreement with an Italian sponsor as they look to put the club’s finances on a more solid foundation.
President Nunzio Antignani told a news conference yesterday that Italian businessman Arturo Di Mascia has signed a contract with the Premier League club that will see him provide financial assistance up until the end of next season.
“We are pleased to announced that Italian entrepreneur Arturo Di Mascio has agreed to sponsor Ħamrun Spartans,” Antignani said yesterday.
“It has been a few months since I made my feelings known to the club committee that it’s time that I brought to the club a financial partner that will help put the club’s books in a more stable position.
“The situation at the club was not the best as I had to solve several difficult financial problems but now it’s time to put the ship on a more solid ground and ensure that we are able to meet our financial demands on time.
“I got to know Di Mascio through common friends and I invited him for our last Premier League match against Valletta. He was impressed by the enthusiasm at our club and he decided to team up with us.
“Our goal is a clear one. We want to ensure that Ħamrun Spartans can have a sound future and we will be doing all we can to ensure that the club can challenge for the major honours.”
The Ħamrun Spartans president said that he was disappointed by the coverage received by the club in recent weeks which gave the impression that they were the only football club who were battling financial problems.
“In recent weeks it was disappointing to see the local media paint a false picture that portrayed our club as the only team in the top flight who were struggling with backdated salaries and other financial problems,” the Ħamrun president said.
“It’s true we are facing a transfer prohibition but that will be lifted next week. Arguments and investigation should be done properly and everyone should admit that it’s not a problem of one club but it’s a recurrent problem of Maltese football.
“Gate money and TV rights in Malta are ridiculous to help Maltese clubs and something has to be done so these can be boosted.
“We have a clear plan now. Our goal is to ensure that we finish the season without any further financial problems so as we can start next season with a clean slate.”
On his part, Antonio Governucci, the club’s technical director, said that it was imperative for the club to solve the club’s financial problems and they had to part ways with a number of established players.
“Unfortunately, in the last weeks we were forced to part ways with a number of players, namely Triston Caruana, Marco Criaco, Wilfried Domoraud, Bradley Schembri and Ryan Darmanin,” Governucci said.
“I thank them for the professionalism they showed during every match. But now we have to look forward and we have brought on a number of replacements who I have no doubt will turn out to be excellent additions.
“We are not setting ourselves any limits to where we can arrive this season and I hope that all players continue to give their 100 per cent so we can remain competitive.”
Governucci confirmed that once the transfer prohibition is lifted next week, the Spartans will sign four new players, namely goalkeeper Filippo Mascagni, Brazilian defender Rafael Henriques, midfielder Marcello Fava and Polish striker Piotr Branicki.
“Added to these we will be registering Mexican striker Carlos Flores, who has been training with us for a few months, will also be added to the squad and I’m sure that he will give a great contribution to our forward line,” Governucci said.
“Valdo Alhinho is set to return from injury while Soufiane Lagzir has also recovered from quite a serious injury so there are a lot to look forward to for us and hopefully the team can continue to produce the attacking style of football that won the praise of many pundits this season.”