The relationship with Cagliari and the Cagliaritans. Joys and sorrows at the top of the club, with a bit of history. But also the reason for Claudio Ranieri's farewell to the rossoblù bench and those protests after Venezia that hurt: the president of Cagliari football club, Tommaso Giulini, spoke to Goal Economy on Radio TV Serie A.

His beginnings: «I had a passion for football since I was little, winning a trophy I was noticed by Milan and I had spent a few years in the youth sector with Berlusconi and Galliani, which was my first training ground. For a knee problem I had the opportunity to do rehabilitation with Gullit: it was a great moment».

Connection with Sardinia: «My father's business activity was in Sardinia, he found this fluorite deposit in the 1960s which in a few years became the largest in the world. Legend has it that, apparently, my father fought in the Russian Campaign with Massimo Moratti's father: in 1995, when he decided to take over Inter, he was supported by Pirelli and my father. I was 18 and we found ourselves in the news for the first time, because we had 12% of Inter».

The purchase of Cagliari : «When the Inter board of directors was dissolved, the lawyer Delogu, who for years was a senator and mayor, called me and said that there was this possibility. My first thought went to a very long chat I had with Gigi Riva: I was one of the few to enter his office, hearing him tell what that championship was and the importance of Cagliari for all the Sardinian people was a strong feeling. I had a bit of time for a new adventure and the lawyer Delogu was very good, because as a man with experience in institutions he managed to throw me into this negotiation. I was annoyed to hear that the Moratti family was behind my purchase: that wasn't the case».

Relationship with the crowd: "My wife, my children and I decided to live in Milan for personal reasons and I see that this limits cohesion. I understand that I miss living in the city constantly, then maybe my time between Milan and Inter doesn't drive the fans crazy: they come from a visceral president who in his 22 years has almost always remained in Serie A".

Worst moment: "I have no doubts, the relegation of Venice. We had carried with us from the previous year so many mistakes, we came to this match against a team that had already been relegated and without motivation. If there had been a more compact dressing room it would have gone differently, then a protest broke out and this was by far the worst moment ever".

Best moments: «More beautiful, I would say, than one. First of all, the Serie B victory, which Cagliari had never achieved: I remember Sau's wonderful goal in the 93rd minute in Vercelli on the last day, which allowed us to overcome Crotone. The other two are magical. One is the victory in Bari, where we were not the favorites, with the downpour and that incredible goal by Pavoletti. It was the moment of resurrection, rapid, with the ashes of relegation still warm. Then last year, which was special, because a few days before the decisive match to save us, Ranieri told me that it was a burden for him to travel back and forth to Rome and that he would have finished with clubs. Except then to receive the call from Roma, which is absolutely understandable. Only he and I knew: he had a very strong motivation to leave with salvation, those were days where the anxiety was strong».

For Cagliari, the last balance sheet closed with a loss of 3.6 million, the fourth consecutive in the red but always improving the accounts: «The history of our management is a perfect example for those who want to play football. The first five years were of sustainability, we were lucky enough to grow a great talent like Nicolò Barella who then led to the second period. Then the perfect storm after the sale of Barella to Inter, the one with the highest value Italy on Italy: there was the immediate will, leaving a son of Cagliari to another company, to immediately reinvest to try - at that point - to make a leap in quality in the team and in the standings. At the time the choice fell on three players in particular, costing 50 million: Simeone, the only one who over the years was resold at the same price, Nández who had five excellent years but we lost for nothing, and Rog from whom we inherited three Crusaders and was unable to express himself at his best. Why do I say the perfect storm? Because the rest of the squad asked for an adjustment, the wage bill was raised and Covid broke out in the middle of the best season, where in December with Maran we were fifth-sixth. We had a team with a wage bill too high for Cagliari, without revenue and with the following season being bad from a footballing point of view as well as without fans. This explains the two budgets with monstrous losses. It is a path that will last a couple more seasons, we are trying to lift the ship through a sustainability that is necessary in the world of football. Also ethically. I would be in favor of a salary cap model, NBA style, where everyone can compete for skills and not for wallet".

Stadium: «It was a very long road, because we inherited almost nothing. At the time, the old Sant'Elia was open for 5,000 people, we brought it back to 16,000 and started with the temporary stadium, built very quickly. We were an example for all of Italian football, because many clubs envy us. We did it in a very short time, also thanks to the municipal administration and Mayor Zedda's team. Within the same building practice, with Zedda and Abodi who was president of Lega B at the time, we started with the idea of a permanent stadium: we thought that the new stadium would be built within five or six years, then the Solinas Council had other ideas and we lost those years. And with Covid, some ideas changed, including removing the shopping center».

Stadium construction: «We chose this public-private partnership, also because I wanted to avoid following the path of Cellino who wanted a private stadium only and had a decade of controversy and ended up in jail. The good news is that today Mayor Zedda returned, that there is a new governor in the Region who I hope will take the stadium as the top priority. We will have the concession for 50 years to recover what is a loss-making investment: the potential 15 million per year from matchday and integrated services are the only revenues of Cagliari Calcio. But we will have a more comfortable structure, a stadium designed even better in terms of acoustics that could bring a few more points and for the club's coffers 10-15 million more in matchday revenues. Everything else, however, will be the responsibility of the company that wins the tender».

The championship: «I would like us all to row in the same direction to have an increasingly beautiful championship, that is not eaten up too much by the super Champions League and by the revenues. Italians want football and they want Serie A, let's work to do better and better».

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