Gheddafi Junior Signs For Perugia

[Massive Attack]

http://www.soccerage.com/en/13/o1563.html#

06/15/2003.
Serie A side Perugia will have Libyan royalty in their ranks next season after Omar Gheddafi's son, Al-Saadi Gheddafi, put pen-to-paper on a professional contract.

"This is a historic moment," proclaimed Perugia's eccentric president Luciano Gaucci. "For the son of a Head of State to play club football in another country means he is a very brave man."

The signing will be regarded with considerable cynicsm in some circles as Gheddafi Jr has done little to suggest that he is of Serie A calibre. The 30-year-old midfielder did earn a call-up for the national team while playing for Libyan side Al Ahdi. His appearances were shrouded by controversy, however, especially after Franco Scoglio quit as coach claiming there was pressure to play Al-Saadi, whom he described as "lacking talent".
SA Italia





"It has to start somewhere
It has to start sometime
What better place than here
What better time than now
All hell can't stop us now"

Guerilla Radio - Rage Against The Machine

[DJT]

That article is not correct (I have found SoccerAge to be a less-than-reliable source). He has not signed a professional contract.

From http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2003/06/15/112050-ap.html:

Libyan leader Mommar Gadhafi's son to train with Perugia

ROME (AP) - Saadi Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and captain of his country's soccer team, will start training with top-division Italian team Perugia on July 1, officials said Sunday.

The agreement was made during a meeting at a Rome hotel Sunday involving the player, Perugia president Luciano Gaucci and Perugia coach Serse Cosmi.

"Both parties agreed on participation at training, so as to then make a definite decision" on whether Gadhafi would play with the club, according to a statement on the team's Web site.

No contract has been signed, said Gianluca Di Carlo, the player's spokesman.

"He wants to train with them to see if the atmosphere is in line" with what he wants. After the training, "he'll decide whether to play with Perugia," Di Carlo said.

Previously, Di Carlo has said Gadhafi wants to play with the club next season providing he has the time.

Cosmi, for his part, "was positively impressed by Saadi, in both the sporting and cultural aspects," the statement said.

Perugia finished in 10th place in the Serie A standings for the 2002-2003 season, which ended in May.

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2992494.stm:

Gadaffi's son joins Italian football club

The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has joined Italian first division football club Perugia and will start training with them in July.

Saadi Gaddafi, 30, the captain of Libya's national soccer team, will join the team permanently in the autumn if his time in Italy proves fruitful.

"It is an honour for me to be able to play with Perugia," Saadi Gaddafi was quoted by Italian news agency Ansa as saying.

"The Italian championship is full of pressure but I will go and see if the environment is right."

Saadi Gaddafi is a frequent visitor to Italy and a close follower of the Italian football scene.

He already has business deals with three other Italian clubs and is part owner of Italy's top team, Juventus.

'Political implications'

The Perugia coach, Serse Cosmi, said that under the contract signed in Rome, the young Gaddafi, a midfielder, will be treated just like any other footballer, although he added that that he was "positively impressed" by their possible new player.

The agreement with Perugia marks the first time that the son of a foreign head of state has joined an Italian league club as a player.

The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says Colonel Gaddafi's son's decision to train with an Italian team has political as well as sporting implications.

Colonel Gaddafi is busy realigning his country, and seems anxious to change the negative image of Libya which has persisted in the West since the Lockerbie bombing.

[Massive Attack]

Too often soccerage relies heavily on rumors, instead of fact. I know that myself, but the story seemed so good, I had to post it.

"It has to start somewhere
It has to start sometime
What better place than here
What better time than now
All hell can't stop us now"

Guerilla Radio - Rage Against The Machine

[Gian-Luca]

Anyone who saw this guy play for Libya against Canada a few months ago will be shaking their head in disbelief. This is a politically or financially inspired move to get him to even train with a Serie A team. If Perugia is interested in looking at some fine talent, they would be better off scouting the Canadian team. Lets hope the likes of Franco Lalli can change the perception that Italian clubs have of Canadian soccer players (which, for the most part, is the view that we totally suck).

Even the wolf can learn. Even the sheep can turn. Even the frog can become at last the prince. - Peter Hammill, Over (1977)

[Mimglow]

Let's remember though, that this is the same club's owner who had said that Jung Hwan Ahn would never play for his team again because he had "ruined" Italian footbal. Hahahaha

Looks like these guys make GREAT decisions!

Whatever happened with young Ahn, anybody know? I know they had pulled a 180 on that statement, but did he ever get to play is Serie A again?

Mimglow, Ottawa

_________________________

Where are the weapons of mass destruction?

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Mimglow

Whatever happened with young Ahn, anybody know? I know they had pulled a 180 on that statement, but did he ever get to play is Serie A again?He's playing in Japan now (Shimizu S-Pulse, I think). Okay, Gaucci and Cosmi (Perugia president and coach, respectively) have big mouths and said some stupid things. However, the fact is that before that whole incident Ahn had very little playing time in Serie A because he just wasn't good enough. Following that incident there was talk of him going to another top Euro league (I think Atlético Madrid said they would sign him no problem), but that didn't happen, either --- there were a lot of other people blowing a lot of hot air in an effort to gain some publicity.

It's not surprising that Perugia is doing this with Gadhafi (even though there's little doubt that it's all a publicity stunt, for both themselves and Libya) because they were the first team to introduce Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Iranian players to Serie A. They also had a trial with an Egyptian player earlier this year. These were all serious soccer moves and not publicity stunts, but my point is that they are known for bringing in people from "different" places.


quote:Looks like these guys make GREAT decisions!Well, they certainly do some strange things, but overall they do quite well, consistently finishing mid-table for about four years in a row despite not having the resources to compete with and always losing their best players to the top teams --- who they have a knack of doing very well against (Juve's loss at rainy Perugia on the last day of the 1999/2000 season will always be remembered by Lazio fans!).

[beachesl]

Actually, I think Ahn has just had to leave Shimizu, and lop off his luxuriant hair, to do his military duty in S. Korea. Apparently, he is a marketing hit in Japan, which is a cosmic leap for a country that loathed Koreans for a long time.

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change
the subject. -- Winston Churchill

[Jarrek]

Actually Gheddafi took some great shots on net versus Canada ... one was very close to being a goal off a free kick.

[Mimglow]

quote:Originally posted by DJT
[brHowever, the fact is that before that whole incident Ahn had very little playing time in Serie A because he just wasn't good enough. Following that incident there was talk of him going to another top Euro league (

Nevertheless, it was completely unacceptable for a club manager to suggest that a player should not have scored against the country in which he is employed, regardless of his value.

Mimglow, Ottawa

_________________________

Where are the weapons of mass destruction?

[DJT]

quote:Originally posted by Mimglow

Nevertheless, it was completely unacceptable for a club manager to suggest that a player should not have scored against the country in which he is employed, regardless of his value.Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. My intention was not to justify what was said. I just wanted to point out (not necessarily to you in particular) that, in the end, the split between Perugia and Ahn didn't really have much to do with those statements.


quote:Actually, I think Ahn has just had to leave Shimizu, and lop off his luxuriant hair, to do his military duty in S. KoreaYes, now that you mention it I read this story recently. But he has to do only one month of service, versus 26 months for a "regular" Korean man, so he's probably only temporarily missing from Shimizu (http://www.asian-football.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp:816580:39913+mrel/news+54059+E).

[beachesl]

From the ridiculous to the superidiculous...

Gaddafi jnr signs for Perugia
Reuters
Sunday June 29, 2003 5:46 PM


By James Eve

TORRE ALFINA, Italy, June 29 (Reuters) - Serie A side Perugia paraded the most unorthodox signing of Italy's closed season on Sunday when they presented Al-Saadi Gaddafi, son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, to the press.

Journalists, club officials and TV crews crowded into the courtyard of the 13th century castle in the village of Torre Alfina in Umbria to watch Gaddafi pose with the Perugia shirt that he will wear next season, having signed a two-year contract with the club.

While Perugia's president Luciano Gaucci greeted his new player, a specially invited group of fans chanted and unfurled a banner that read "Welcome Saadi".

Gaddafi's passion for football is well known. As player/owner of Libyan first division side Al-Ittihad the striker scored 25 goals in the last two seasons, and as president of the Libyan football federation he heads Libya's bid for the 2010 World Cup.

Nonetheless, at the age of 28 the move to one of Europe's most competitive leagues seemed unlikely for the striker, especially a move to Perugia -- a club that has made a name for itself as a springboard for young talent.


IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES

Japanese midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata began his Serie A career at Perugia. Last season's star player, striker Fabrizio Miccoli, earned a call up for the Azzurri after a series of impressive performances.

Cynicism surrounding the move grew after ex-Libyan national team coach Franco Scoglio made disparaging remarks about Gaddafi's skills as a footballer.

"When I was coach of Libya I called him up a few times but I'd prefer to say nothing about his qualities as a player," Scoglio told reporters earlier this month.

Gaucci, however, denied that Gaddafi's arrival at Perugia was simply a publicity stunt.

"We don't have any need of publicity. This is just another gamble by us. I'm staking my reputation on it," he told reporters on Sunday.

"The player is ready and willing. He wants to be here. If he starts or stays on the bench it's all the same to him -- that's one of his great qualities."

Gaddafi, meanwhile, admitted playing in Serie A would present a tough challenge.

"It certainly won't be easy. I've got my work cut out for me," he said.

"I know that Perugia is the only Serie A side that can boast players from every continent. That tells you something about their ability to identify and develop talent."

Asked what Colonel Gaddafi thought of his son's latest career move, Gaddafi replied: "He's fine about it."





A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change
the subject. -- Winston Churchill

[DJT]

From http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/2003/11/05/247725-ap.html:

Soccer playing son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi fails doping test

By ANDREW DAMPF

ROME (AP) - The Serie A career of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son Saadi suffered a major setback before it even began due to a failed doping test.

After becoming one of the most ballyhooed recruits in the top Italian soccer league's history in June, Saadi Gadhafi tested positive in a drug exam following what was to have been his first match, the Italian Olympic Committee said Wednesday. Gadhafi, who signed to play for Perugia, was found to have an amount of the performance-enhancing steroid norandrosterone in his system that exceeded the allowable limit after a 0-0 draw with Reggina on Oct. 5.

He did not play in that game or any other official match for Perugia.

The 30-year-old Gadhafi, who was once trained by former Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, told the Qatar-based Arabic satellite television channel Al-Jazeera that he had already contacted several doctors inquiring about whether any treatment he might have taken for a bad back might have been responsible.

"I was surprised when I heard the news," Gadhafi told al-Jazeera from the Perugia hotel where he lives. He said the doctors he had contacted had said it was hard to believe that he could have taken a doping substance because he is so closely monitored.

"There will be a comprehensive investigation of the past few months when I visited several doctors in Italy, Germany and in Libya to make sure which doctor gave me this substance that appeared in the test," Gadhafi said.

Players are randomly chosen for testing after every match, regardless of whether they take the field.

Perugia president Luciano Gaucci told Italian news agency Apcom that the positive test was likely due to medicine Gadhafi was given in Germany.

Perugia spokesman Paolo Giovagnoni said Gadhafi "travels all the time for treatment" on his back.

"But this is the first I've heard of him going to Germany," Giovagnoni said in an interview. "This amazes me like so much other news."

Giovagnoni said Gadhafi nearly entered the match against Reggina.

"He was going to play," the team spokesman said. "(Coach Serse) Cosmi asked him in the last 10 or 15 minutes if he wanted to go in the game, but he said no, his back was hurting."

The Italian soccer league can impose suspensions for failed doping exams, with recent penalties of about five months. In the past, suspensions have extended up to 16 months but were often reduced.

Perugia has 10 days to ask for a counteranalysis or B test.

According to Perugia's website, Gadhafi has been on the bench for two Serie A games: the Oct. 5 match against Reggina, and a 2-2 draw with Bologna on Oct. 19.

"He's with us knowing he's not playing, so he wouldn't have a reason to take any doping substance," Apcom quoted Gaucci as saying.

Gaucci said he had not heard from Gadhafi and that he had only been able to speak with some Libyan officials about the issue.

"They think it's all being done to create a scandal," Gaucci said. "I calmed them down, because the Italian soccer federation wouldn't have any reason to do something like that. It doesn't make sense."

"Unfortunately this case has international implications," said Claudio Mele of the Italian Olympic Committee, which oversees doping exams for all sports in Italy.

Gadhafi's status as a Perugia player has been unclear since his signing.

Nearly all soccer experts agreed that Gadhafi didn't have enough talent to play in Serie A, considered one of the best leagues in the world.

While he is the captain of Libya's national team, he was better known as a fanatical fan of Italian soccer before he decided he wanted to actually play in Italy.

Gadhafi was largely responsible for Libya's hosting the Italian Supercup final between Juventus and Parma in Tripoli in 2002. The North African country is also bidding to host the 2010 World Cup. Gadhafi led the delegation that submitted Libya's bid.

[Crazy_Yank]

He seems like a decent player, but not up to international standards. I wish I had the ability to score 25 goals for any pro team. The doping thing seems weird though. Why dope to play in reserve matches?