Pro Recco, the uncertain future of the world's most titled water polo club
Pro Recco, the world's most titled water polo club, is preparing for liquidation after the Orlean Invest group's divestment. A pool of entrepreneurs is hoped to save the team
3' min read
3' min read
Just a few more hours, then - barring sudden changes of scenery - the liquidation of Pro Recco, the world's most titled water polo club, will be made official by the shareholders' meeting on Friday, 2 August 2024 (it was supposed to take place on 26 July, but the meeting was postponed). After the disengagement, announced on 5 July, of the Orlean Invest group and its chairman, Gabriele Volpi, who, as an entrepreneur but also as a former water polo player, was at the helm of Pro Recco for over 20 years, leading it to top sporting results, with a strong and constant economic commitment, the club now looks to an uncertain future.
The hope is that a pool of Ligurian entrepreneurs and fans will be formed, perhaps around the current president, Maurizio Felugo, who will be able to give continuity to a formation that has made water polo history, with 36 championships, 17 Italian Cups, 11 Champions Cups, 9 European Super Cups and an Adriatic League. Not to mention that seven of its players are national team members of the Settebello and three others are on the national teams of the USA, Hungary and Greece, respectively.
"We rule out taking the books to court"
.And although Pro Recco's successes date back as far as 1959 (the year of the first championship), 'Volpi's management has certainly imposed a professional, managerial and qualitative standard totally unknown in water polo, as demonstrated also by the extreme difficulty of finding someone who wants to continue his managerial experience, let's not say at the same levels, but not even comparable', club sources emphasise.
Now the company's immediate management future, the sources continue, 'will be defined at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting, called for 2 August. It is in any case excluded that the books will be taken to court. And enrolment in the next Serie A championship will be managed according to the decisions that will be taken at the meeting,' but - they assure the club - 'it is guaranteed,' as Feluga also recently affirmed.
On the other hand, the possibility that Pro Recco could participate in the next Champions League, accessing the cup through the qualifiers, seems to have vanished, as the deadline to join it expired today, 31 July 2024.
