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President of Virtus Verona, Luigi Fresco (featured photo), has made a significant decision: to change the team's coach in an attempt to avoid the worst for his team in Italy's Serie C.
The "detail" is that he is also the coach of the team in question.
The decision, made official this Thursday (5), will mark his departure from the technical command of Virtus Verona after almost FORTY-FOUR YEARS.
That's right!
The then assistant Tommaso Chiecchi will take over.
Now 64 years old, Luigi Fresco began his "reign" as coach in June 1982, when he was just 21 years old.
He has also been the club's president since July 1st of the same year.
His journey at the club began when he was 18, when he was elected director in 1979.
Months later, he took over the youth team and ended up being elected to the top position three years later.
He also holds a degree in pedagogy and is the administrative director of a secondary school located east of the city of Verona.
Absolute Record Holder
Luigi Fresco became known as the "Italian Ferguson" thanks to his longevity.
He leaves the legendary United manager far behind, as Sir Alex Ferguson led the Red Devils for "only" 26 years.
Fresco also surpassed the Frenchman Guy Roux, who was in charge of Auxerre for 36 uninterrupted years.
Reached Professional Football
Virtus never reached the status of Verona or Chievo, but stopped playing only in provincial and regional amateur leagues under Luigi Fresco.
It was a tenth-division club in the Italian football pyramid in 1982.
It reached the seventh division a decade later. The sixth division came in 2000.
They won the Veneto Amateur Coppa Italia in 2006 and, in 2013, debuted in professional football.
According to a 2021 report by the website Calciopédia, Virtus still plays a significant social role in the region.
One of its initiatives was to help recover and reintegrate heroin addicts and former dealers from the region.
Virtus also welcomed and fed around 50 refugee families from Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. And it still hires athletes in exile, such as Gambian goalkeeper Sheikh Sibi, who has been with the club since 2020.
Situation in Serie C
The team's situation in Group A of the Italian third division is not the best.
They are in 18th place out of 20 teams, with 21 points.
That’s 13 fewer than Arzignano, who are 15th and currently escaping the risk of relegation.
The last-placed team is relegated directly to Serie D—a position already held by Triestina.
The teams finishing between 16th and 19th place play in a relegation playoff.
There are eight rounds left to play.
Photo: Reproduction
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
