• Serie A

Bologna staff 'forgot' new signing

ESPN staff
February 4, 2014
Ibson spent two years at Spartak Moscow before returning to his native Brazil in 2011 © PA Photos
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Bologna president Albano Guaraldi has suspended four members of staff for forgetting to pick up new signing Ibson from the airport.

The Serie A strugglers made a successful last-minute bid for the Corinthians midfielder on Friday but the day after, following a long flight to Italy from Brazil, the 31-year-old found nobody there to welcome him.

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He was eventually collected and taken for a medical, which he passed to complete a loan move until the end of the season, but Guaraldi has reacted to an embarrassing situation by temporarily suspending the club's general secretary Luca Befani, press officer Carlo Caliceti, technical advisor Adriano Polenta and Andrea Battacchi from the marketing department.

"It's the kind of thing which could happen at amateur level, but not at a club like Bologna," former defender Marcello Castellini told TuttoMercatoWeb.com. "It doesn't rain, it pours there. Things aren't going well and then this kind of situation arises which just worsens things.

"It shows how much confusion there is within the club. I know that the president has taken action and he'll be demanding answers during the board meeting tomorrow, but what happened is unacceptable."

Former Spartak Moscow and Porto midfielder Ibson has already begun training with his new team-mates, and could make his debut on Sunday when the Rossoblu - currently just one place above the relegation zone - travel to face high-flying Torino.

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