De Luca outlines Napoli project
Monday 16 August, 2004

While Luciano Gaucci continues his legal battle, Siena patron Paolo De Luca
proposes a new plan to save Napoli from extinction.

“Negatives can be turned into positives,” assured the native Neapolitan
businessman who took Siena to their first ever Serie A campaign.

“To start again from Serie C1 is an opportunity we should take, as changing
everything is more beneficial than merely pretending to change.”

Gaucci is waging a legal battle to keep Napoli in Serie B despite their
bankruptcy, but De Luca aims to register for the Lodo Petrucci and start afresh
– free from debt – in C1.

“I am the complete opposite of Gaucci in every way,” smiled the Siena chief. “I
am also one of the few people who could put together a competitive squad in the
space of a week.”

“My plan is to set up five youth squads from the local and regional area, almost
like a farm for football players. We don’t need star names in C1, as they are
already sitting down and looking for their pay cheques the moment they arrive.
What Napoli needs now is fitness, the right attitude and passion.”

Gaucci’s lawyers and the Naples tribunal have ordered the Serie B calendars to
be scrapped and redrawn to include Napoli, but the FIGC is holding firm on its
position that the club is bankrupt and cannot be registered for anything other
than Serie C1 or the amateur League.