Paul Matiasic, Trieste is in an uproar: Gianluca Mauro issues a clarification

While Paul Matiasic has officially kicked off Maxima Roma’s new chapter, Trieste is abuzz. And it’s all thanks to Gianluca Mauro, who, in a press release, provided an update on the Giuliani’s situation, including the club’s new ownership. According to reports confirmed by the RAI editorial office in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, an American investment fund is set to take the helm, with former football player Conor Barwin serving as the new president.

“Regarding the statement released by Pallacanestro Trieste concerning the transfer of ownership to a foreign fund, I feel it is my duty to provide clarification to the city and the fans,” Mauro said.

“I submitted a concrete and well-structured expression of interest to acquire Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 S.r.l. It was a proposal based on a genuine financial commitment—not an off-the-cuff offer—with capital already identified and available for participation in the Serie A league,” Mauro’s statement continues. For this transaction, I sought the professional advice of Studio Usoni & Partners and Attorney Maurizio Miculan: professionals of proven integrity, brought in to oversee the project precisely to certify its soundness and non-speculative nature.”

“At the same time,” Mauro insists, “I had initiated discussions with other entities to implement development initiatives that would benefit not only the sports side of the club but the entire region. The goal has always been explicit and stated: a project for the city, sustainable over time and rooted in the local community, that would avoid relying exclusively on the first team’s results—a model that the recent history of professional sports has shown to be unsustainable. This expression of interest was not followed by any response. No formal response was received, nor was there any substantive discussion, even though I repeatedly stated my willingness to discuss potentially shared objectives.”

I acknowledge the sale of the shares to a foreign fund and wish the reappointed executives success and peace of mind in their work. I remain convinced that Trieste deserves a solid, transparent sports project rooted in its local community. For this reason, I reaffirm—today as then—my full willingness to engage in dialogue. The door remains open: should there be a genuine desire to build something serious and lasting for basketball in Trieste, we are ready to sit down at the table and do our part…because “PEOPLE LIKE US NEVER GIVE UP”—these are the words with which Mauro concludes his statement.

Mauro’s statement comes against the backdrop of Pallacanestro Trieste, which has experienced significant turmoil in recent weeks. Matiasic, before focusing on the Rome project, had kept open the option of transferring the Trieste sports franchise to Rome as part of his Cotogna Sports Group, only to later backtrack by selling his shares to a U.S. fund that, together with the current partners, now controls 99% of the Trieste-based club. A move that effectively averted the specter of the club’s relocation but paved the way for a new phase of uncertainty regarding the governance of the red-and-white club.

It should not be forgotten, however, that the corporate issue is intertwined with an as-yet-unresolved problem on the infrastructure front. In recent weeks, Pallacanestro Trieste announced its decision not to participate in the bidding process for the PalaRubini concession, citing the economic and operational conditions set forth in the call for bids—which it deemed unsustainable—as the reason for its decision. At the same time, the club had requested an urgent meeting with local authorities, stating its commitment to seeking sponsors and new investors as an essential step toward finalizing its registration for the upcoming Serie A season.

The public outcry that had marked the most intense weeks of the saga had already demonstrated just how much the city cares about its club: the Biancorossi fans had taken to the streets with posters displayed in various neighborhoods and an online petition that had gathered thousands of signatures, with the slogan “This can’t all end” becoming the symbol of the Giulian people’s resistance. Even the governor of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga, had taken a stand, declaring his intention to clarify the situation and calling for “a solution that can bring all the needs together.”

Gianluca Mauro, for his part, is no stranger to the club’s history. As the club itself noted in a 2019 statement, it was he who had “the vision and strategy that created the conditions to bring Pallacanestro Trieste back to and maintain its place in Serie A.” This track record lends significant weight to his remarks today and makes his expression of interest anything but an impromptu move, as he himself is keen to emphasize.