Akousa Puni Essien the wife of Ghanaian skipper Michael Essien, is excited to take charge of Italian Lega Pro side FC Como.
Akousa Puni-Essien bought the club last week for £206,000 at an auction, after the club filed for bankruptcy a couple of times.
Speaking at a press conference, she explained that the move for the club was her individual initiative and asked for a little bit of time as they discussed the strategies to move forward.
“We just got here, so over the next two to three months we’ll try to figure out the situation and identify the suitable strategies.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I want to thank the team, the coach and the management for the work done so far. Considering the situation, it’s incredible they are still in the promotion play-off zone.[/perfectpullquote]
“I am my husband’s biggest fan and he is my greatest support in everything I do, but I am alone in this adventure.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We already run a football club in Ghana in the second division and it’s a good opportunity to give work to young people in the area,”[/perfectpullquote]
she said
FC Como’s Stadium. (Wikipedia)
FC Como was in the football league’s top tier as recently as 2002-03, but everything started to roll downhill after the team’s relegation in 2003.
It plummeted down and faced three consecutive relegations after going bankrupt in 2004 to then move to Serie C2.
They fought back to reach Serie B in 2015 but were immediately relegated back to Lega Pro as new financial constraints forced the team to declare bankruptcy for the second time in a decade.
The club’s bankruptcy trustee disclosed that in recent months, as many as 31 individuals some Chinese, Indian, Emirati, Brazilian as well as various Italian entrepreneurs came forward trying to bid for the club.
Mrs. Puni Essien, however, won the bid which she quickly put in after her first visit to the stadium and sports center a month ago.
Puni Essien is definitely not a stranger to football and has taken full responsibility of the Club naming it FC Como as part of the deal.
The acquisition, however, does not include the club’s board, training ground or the brand.
On the club’s official website, FC Como declared its excitement and openly welcomed its new owner for whom it was “honored to be part of a club which has 110 years of history”.
Featured photo: INSTAGRAM IMAGES
