Maltese investors eyeing Catania football club hit pause button

Maltese investors interested in acquiring shareholding in the company that runs the Catania football club have hit the pause button, according to the club president.

The anonymous group of Maltese investors are said to have injected €500,000 last month to help the club meet its commitments to sign up for the Italian third-tier football league. The Maltese investors were discussing a possible shareholding ranging between 20% and 30% in the club.

However, in an interview with La Sicilia, Catania football club president Nico La Mura said the club was now waiting for a response from the Maltese.

“After having made a financial contribution the investors from Malta took a break to get a full picture of the situation. We hope to have some answers soon,” Le Mura told La Sicilia.

His comments came days after renowned sports newspaper Corriere dello Sport speculated that the Maltese financiers had declined an invitation to invest in the club.

Catania is run by Sigi, a company, made up of several investors. The company has found it difficult to operate the club and only just managed to raise the necessary funds to be able to compete in the Italian third-tier football league.

The company had launched a crowd-funding appeal among Catania supporters, tapped sponsorship money and also received a donation from Maltese investors.

The Maltese investors have not been named and none of the news reports in Sicily have indicated who they may be or in what sector of the economy they operate in.

Catania football club operate a world-class sports village known as Torre del Grifo, which is situated in the outskirts of the city.

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