In a story sure to shock readers who have grown accustomed to the upstanding, devoid of corruption world of Italian soccer/government/everything, a club president was forced to resign after police stopped him with a big ol’ bag of cash.
The club in question is Serie C (Italian third tier) side Novara, and the president was one Marcello Cianci, who was stopped by police in possession of a bag containing €200,000, or $240,000.
From ESPN:
Reports in Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport suggest Cianci was “inexplicably anxious” when he was stopped by the police, which left with them no alternative but to search his car.
Shortly after the incident, Cianci announced his resignation as Novara president, where he had been since 2019.
“Novara Calcio communicate it has received the resignation of Mr. Marcello Cianci as president and delegation administer of the club for personal and professional commitments,” a Novara statement read.
“The members will convene a board of directors to elect a new appointment.
“With regards to news stories which are currently circling, Novara Calcio totally distances itself from these strange facts, which regard extremely personal incidents and are not linked to his work related within the club.”
Everything about that just screams Italian corruption, all the way down to to the police “having no choice” but to search his car. Let’s hope we get some more details on this eventually, because there’s no way there’s not a much bigger story. Anything is possible, up to and including Cianci being framed somehow for something seemingly entirely unrelated.
This could be a Dan Brown plot, for all we know. That’s what’s magical about crime in Italy. There are really no limits to the absurdity.
[ESPN]
