Joseph Portelli is close to complete the deal to buy Italian club Ars et Labor Ferrara Calcio.Β
La Nuova Ferrara reports that in the coming days, the deal will be completed with Portelli taking over from the current management led by owner Juan Martin Molinari and president Andres Marengo.
Initial reports that Portelli would be buying the club were denied by the Italian club with an official statement but discussions between the two parties continued.
Ars et Labor Ferrara Calcio were re-founded in 2025 after SPAL, who were founded in 1907 and throughout their history played for twenty four years in the Serie A – their last Serie A appearance being in 2019/20, went into liquidation.
In their first season as Ars et Labor Ferrara, they played in the Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna Girone B, placing second but winning the play-offs. However, they missed out on promotion after losing the national play-offs.
Chances of playing in the Serie D are however not ruled out as the current management travelled to Rome on Friday to file the documentation relating to the application for reinstatement in the Serie D. There should be a first indication whether this request will be approved on Friday 10 with the official confirmation set for Tuesday 28.
Meanwhile another important date for Ars et Labor Ferrara will be on Thursday 9 with the auction of the SPAL trademark.
This was not Joseph Portelli’s first attempt at buying an Italian club. Apart from showing interest in a couple of clubs, the Hamrun president had a formal offer to buy Siena and eventually Nocerina but while the offer to Siena was rejected, he eventually pulled out of the deal to buy Nocerina after a due diligence exercise.