Dundee fans battle for ownership
Scottish first division club Dundee will face an ownership battle between fans and former director Giovanni Di Stefano.
Brian Bannon resigned from his position at the head of the board as did the main benefactors Callum Melville and George Knight. Their shares have being made available to the fans.
However, Di Stefano has written to the administrator and stated his interest in taking over the club.
If Di Stefano takes over the club the fans will be likely to protest against the Italian lawyer. He was a part of the board the last time the club went into administration.
The former director said, "It's a question of unfinished business. I took a lot of stick unnecessarily in 2003. The situation was not my fault. I was only there for a few weeks. I was misled."
Di Stefano warned fans that he will be in sole control of the club if he takes over Dundee and he would not be willing to enter into a partnership with anyone including a fans group.
He stressed that it would be detrimental for the club if fans boycotted his regime and that they wouldn’t have the resources or experience to take over the club.
Di Stefano said, “If fans walk away because I take over, that would be a d**n silly thing to do. It's either one way or no way. This club will die if someone doesn't come in and take it over.”
"The fans are not going to be sufficient. They don't have the money, the expertise or the credibility," he added.
Dundee are expected to be sold by her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue and Di Stefano said, “I think the figure will be a pretty modest £300,000 to £500,000. Once the season is over you can regroup and take matters from there."
The battle for ownership is sure to be a lengthy one between fans and Di Stefano.
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