It’s the decisive day for Trapani Calcio. Today, Thursday 22 Januarythe National Federal Tribunal of the FIGC will rule on the administrative violations reported to the granata clubalready impressed by 15 total penalty points. Not only is there yet another sporting sanction on the table, but the very future of the teamwith the specter – concrete – ofexclusion from the Serie C championship.
The city holds its breath, while the patron Valerio Antonini gives signals of packed bags.
From the playoff dream to the judicial nightmare
Trapani reaches this deadline after weeks of growing tension. Without the penalties, the team would be fully in the running for the playoffs. With -15 points, however, they sank into the playout zone, dragged into a crisis that goes well beyond the pitch.
The new referral concerns payments made to members in ways considered irregulareven through current accounts other than the official one of the company. A dispute which, in the event of serious and repeated violations, can lead not only to further penalty points, but to disbarment from the championshipas already happened in basketball with Trapani Shark.
The toughest week of Antonini’s management
Today’s sentence comes after a very difficult week. On Sunday the 4-0 victory against Sorrento was accompanied by a harsh protest from the fanswith chants against the owners, firecrackers and smoke bombs thrown onto the pitch and the match being suspended for around ten minutes.
The Sports Judge ordered the closing of the Curvea fine and the revocation of the season tickets of the identified fans. The club’s response was very harsh, with Valerio Antonini speaking of “pseudo fans” and calling him Daspo for life for those responsible.
A now evident rift between property and square.
Antonini: “Trapani is a parenthesis”
In the most delicate moment, the grenade patron chose the path of brutal frankness. In a podcast following the events of Siracusa Calcio, Antonini declared:
«I plan to start again in a new city, with new stimuli».
Words that in Trapani sound like a early farewell. The entrepreneur speaks openly of wanting to “save the securities” and “defend investments”, but now defines the Trapani experience as one brackets. The thought, reiterated several times, is clear: avoid the definitive collapse then sell everything and leave.
The Citadel of Sport, among advertisements and missing papers
At the center of the narrative remains the Citadel of Sportthe project with which Antonini promised to revolutionize Trapani: stadium, sports hall, commercial and accommodation facilities. The patron claims to have an agreement from 170 million euros with the Gem fundwhich he announces he intends to make public.
But beyond the announcements, binding administrative acts are lacking: no formalized project financing, no definitive agreements, no concluded public procedures. A project that remained on paper, which over time became a terrain of political and institutional conflict, especially with the mayor Giacomo Tranchida, called directly into question by Antonini as co-responsible for the failure of the operation.
A repeating crisis
Trapani Calcio is not new to these scenarios. Founded in 1905, it experienced Serie B, then bankruptcy and exclusion from the professional ranks in 2020. With Antonini, in 2023, the rebirth: Serie D dominated, promotion, Italian Cup, enthusiasm skyrocketing.
Then the reality of Serie C: very high ambitions, disappointing results, five changed coaches, up to tax and contribution problems. First 8 penalty points, then another 7. Appeals rejected everywhere. Now the new referral.
Sports and technical risk
Meanwhile, the technical future is equally uncertain. Even the coach Salvatore Aronica he could leave the club in the next few hours: according to rumors, he is in negotiations with Giugliano, another Serie C team.
A further sign of a project that is falling apart while sports justice is preparing to write the last word.
Today the verdict
Today the Federal Court will decide whether Trapani will have to suffer another penalty or whether the most drastic measure will be taken: exclusion from the championship. It would be the final blow to an already compromised season and yet another trauma for a place that, once again, sees its future hanging on a sentence.
