The certainty is given by the president of Olhanense: there are investors who want to take over the club's SAD, but the possibility comes up against the intentions of the current administration, whose "idea is not to leave". despite the descent of the professional football team to the Portuguese Championship.
In an interview with Sul Informação, Isidoro Sousa revealed that he was contacted by a Portuguese-British investor, who has already expressed interest in meeting the current president of Sociedade Anónima Desportiva, Luigi Agnolin, to discuss the possible deal.
However, Eduardo Raposo, responsible for communication at SAD, assured our newspaper that Luigi Agnolin “does not need intermediaries” and that, if there is interest from any investor, he thinks “it is strange that there was no contact”.
Also in the past, “Isidoro Sousa tried to “push” current investors” out of the club, “but the necessary guarantees were never given,” added the same source. In fact, this situation was confirmed by the president of the Algarve emblem to the Sul Informação. "I've already had alternatives, I've introduced investors, but they never had the idea of selling," he revealed.
And if it's true that it was Isidoro Sousa who placed the current Italian investors in the Olhanense SAD, in a decision that, at first, "seemed well" after almost four years, and with the Algarve club in sporting fall, the club's manager he says that this is the "time to say enough", with SAD having "to show whether or not it has the capacity to continue".
"If you don't have it, you have to open doors to other investors, with whom I've had some approach in recent times," says Isidoro Sousa to our newspaper.
The president of Olhanense, the club that celebrates this Thursday, 105 years of life, clarifies that he is not "telling them to leave, but rather to fulfill and make a project".
This is because the manager guarantees that it would be possible, in the future, to work with this SAD. "We must forgive and return to everything in a perspective of collaboration, but I don't know what's in their soul," he added.
Isidoro Sousa says he has maintained contacts with “people who seem to be capable and serious. Whether they are better or worse I don't know, but this president [Agnolin], who I consider to be a suitable person, will not want to get out of the situation badly».
The president of Olhanense confesses, however, that the distance that exists between the presidency and SAD is not new. «From day one, I realized that I was not part of the project. I felt far away», he laments.
Asked about the reason for his departure from the decisions taken at SAD, Isidoro Sousa replied that "perhaps people have difficulty working with those who are more knowledgeable about matters."
For the leader, Italian investors, when they arrived at the Algarve emblem, “did not know the reality of Olhão and did not have the knowledge that I had and have”.
In such a way that the descent from the II League to the Portuguese Championship, completed two days ago, is something that Isidoro Sousa says he predicted «right at the beginning of the season».
“The team that was assembled had no chance. Players and coaches are the least guilty. Whoever set up the team either didn't have the capacity or didn't have the knowledge to do it. I, as club president and aware of the reality, would be the best person to ask for an opinion. Maybe they asked other people, with other interests, and not me», he explained.
«No one suffers from this more than I do»
For now, and as the club crosses, Isidoro guarantees “that no one suffers more from this than me. I have the weight and responsibility of an entire associative mass, of a city and a municipality. Unfortunately, Olhanense is in a difficult moment and SAD drags the club. We had 6 members when we went up, now we have 500 or so».
It is for this number of members that the president of the algarvian club is running for a new term, leading the only competing list. “We have to return Olhanense to the partners and investors have to say what they intend to do. SAD is on the sidelines of the club. After a few good meetings, some less good ones, they continue to ignore the club. It's a fact», he considers.
One of the urgent solutions pointed out by Isidoro Sousa is to “quickly reach 1500 members”, which will be possible “through a fundraising campaign”. “In difficult times, we must all unite. I am not the savior. The saviors will be the partners, the direction, the social bodies, the autarchy”, he stresses.
In financial terms, the moment Olhanense is going through is not the best either. “The club is viable as long as there is no default on the part of those who owe it. We have been going through a difficult time over the last few months and I hope that the defaulters comply”.
With current investors or with new ones, it is certain that Olhanense “has no capacity to recover SAD”. “We cannot afford the debt”, concludes Isidoro Sousa.
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