Domenico Serafino

Domenico Giuseppe Serafino (born 1967) is an Italian musician and music producer. He is best noted for his role as chairman/ owner of association football clubs in Italy and Wales, many of which have gone out of business.

Music career

Serafino is a musician and music producer - and has had some popularity within South America during his musical career, particularly in the mid-1990s through to the 2000s. "His style defies conventional definitions, lying somewhere at the intersection of rap, funk and rock, with African influences in both sound and aesthetic." The video for his 1999 song ''Ma Chi M’accompagna'' features former Italian international footballer, Roberto Baggio.

Football chairman and owner

Bangor City

In the summer of 2019, with then Cymru Premier club Bangor City in financial troubles via the then ownership of Vaughan Sports Management, new investment and ownership was being sought. By September a consortium of investors had taken control of Bangor and Serafino was installed as chairman.
Serafino brought in Argentine World Cup winner Pedro Pasculli as the new manager of the team.

In April 2020 Serafino made a £5,000 donation to local hospital Ysbyty Gwynedd to help it fight the outbreak of coronavirus. The club finished the inaugural Cymru North season in fifth place in a season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic with the final table determined on a points-per-game basis.

In April 2021 the club was refused a Tier 1 licence on the basis of a failure to provide the club's financial accounts as part of their application along with an issue in relation to coaching qualifications.

Concerns over unpaid wages for club players and club officials were reported in the press In October 2021, who noted similarities to a situation in early 2021 at Sambenedettese. The club were summoned by the Football Association of Wales to a disciplinary hearing over the matter. The panel ruled that "all outstanding monies" must be paid within 31 days from 29 October 2021 - the club owed nearly £53,000 of unpaid wages to players and staff - with the sanction in the event of non-payment being the club would be banned "from all football related activity". On 30 November the Football Association of Wales suspended the club from all football related activity after they failed to comply with the payment of outstanding monies. As the club were suspended from football their Cymru North matches against five clubs were postponed between 30 November and February 2022, with the club docked three points for each missed match and also fined.

On 7 January 2022 it was announced by FAW that the club had not applied for a licence to compete in the tier 2 Cymru North for the 2022–23 season, or at tier 3 level. On 14 January the club's academy announced on social media that closing with immediate effect after no support was forthcoming from the club and there had been no concrete evidence from the FAW or the club that the situation at the club was going to improve.

On 11 February the FAW announced that the club had until 19 February to pay all outstanding fines or they would be immediately expelled from the Cymru North. It also announced that in the event the club paid outstanding fines, they would have to play all subsequent league fixtures or they would also face immediate expulsion from the league.

"A club competing in the second tier of Welsh professional football" and "a club with a noteworthy history. They have had some spells in the international European tournaments" was shortly afterwards advertised for sale with asking price of £1.25 million. The club was reported as Bangor City with the Daily Post noting the "eye-watering price" did not include the club's ground which was leased from the council.

On 18 February the club announced in an official statement by Serafino they had informed the FAW that they had withdrawn from the Cymru North for the 2021–22 season. They also noted plans to return to play for the following season. Later that day, the FAW confirmed that the club's withdrawal had been accepted and it's playing record in the league for the season had been expunged.

The club failed to enter a team in any league for the 2022–23 season. At the start of August 2022, the club surrendered its lease on Nantporth Stadium. The club were also served with their first Gazette notice for a compulsory strike-off, the first step in Companies House striking off a company from its register.

Sambenedettese

In June 2020 he was unveiled as the new owner and chairman of Italian Serie C side S.S. Sambenedettese Calcio. He claimed to have paid former owner Franco Fedeli over 1.2 million euros for the club. The deal was announced by the club on 10 June.

In late March 2021 the club's players threatened to strike, and not play the match scheduled for Saturday 3 April in Matelica. A statement by the Italian Footballers Association, which published the press release, stated that the players had not received payment of the monthly salaries of November – December 2020 and January – February 2021 and that Sefarino had personally assured them that he would settle the arrears of salaries no later than Friday 2 April.

In April 2021 the club were docked four points from their current campaign due to unpaid player wages, fined €3,000 and Serafino was given a six-month suspension from running football clubs in a decision by the FIGC tribunal. A pig's head was left outside Serafino's home in Italy with under it a photo of Serafino - it was believed this related to the lack of payment of players' wages. In early April, five different companies sought bankruptcy petitions for non-payment of delivery of services.

After Serafino's failure to comply with several financial requirements, the club was declared bankrupt by the Court of Ascoli Piceno in May 2021. Entrepreneur Roberto Renzi took over the club, it was refounded as A.S. Sambenedettese and, after repaying all debts, was formally accepted by the Italian Football Federation, rejoining in the Serie D league.

In October 2021 the Milan Court bankruptcy section also declared ''Sudaires srl'', the company owned by Serafino and his son Francesco, bankrupt, a company which had previously held all the shares of S.S. Sambenedettese. This bankruptcy charge was bought by Powergrass for works at the Stadio Riviera delle Palme where they had only been partially paid and SDS Strategic.

Journalism investigation

Serafino's ownership of both clubs was part of a British Broadcasting Corporation Wales investigation, broadcast on UK television in May 2022 which also noted he worked with an accountant, Ignazio Spinnato, who has been convicted over his role in a multi-million pound drug trafficking and money laundering operation run by the Italian organised crime group, the 'Ndrangheta mafia.

Personal life

Serafino is from Calabria in the south of Italy and a Napoli fan.https://archive.today/20200315132321/https://www.spazionapoli.it/2016/02/05/esclusiva-francesco-serafino-italiano-boca-burocrazia-napoli/ EXCLUSIVE - The story of Francesco Serafino, the Italian ex Boca stopped by the bureaucracy: "I would have loved to play in Napoli, the team of my father's heart..." He spent some time living in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 2009.

His son Francesco is a footballer who has played for the two clubs his father has owned.

References

External links

Official music websiteYouTube homepageFacebook homepage Twitter homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serafino, Domenico
1967 births
Living people
Italian expatriates in Argentina
Italian musicians
Italian football chairmen and investors
Italian music people
Bangor City F.C.
A.S. Sambenedettese
Association football chairmen and investors
Italian businesspeople