The FIGC’s federal court has sanctioned the club over wages not paid on time. Secretary of State Fabbri: «It has nothing to do with the Republic, and in future the use of San Marino’s name will require institutional approval».
Three points of penalization to be served in the ongoing Eccellenza championship, and eighteen months of disqualification for president Emiliano Montanari, who was the club’s legal representative at the time of the events. This was the ruling handed down by the FIGC’s federal court in decision no. 54 of 21 September.
At the heart of the case are nearly 60,000 euros in unpaid wages, reported by three registered players at the end of last season. The club eventually paid the money in mid-July, but after the deadline set by regulations.
At the 10 September hearing, the court rejected the club’s request for acquittal, explaining that «it is irrelevant that the obligation was fulfilled late», since the violation is already complete once the payment deadline expires, and because late payment is not recognized under the Sports Justice Code as grounds for excluding liability.
This is not the club’s first sanction. In early August, with decision no. 31 of 7 August, also concerning late-paid wages, the same court had already imposed one point of penalization on the club and a six-month ban on Montanari. In that case, the LND-AIC arbitration panel had awarded Alessandro Fabbri the sum of 49,500 euros, which had not been paid within the required thirty days; the club’s appeal was rejected and the violation stood.
The total tally now stands at four points of penalization. In the standings, the team sits at minus three, last place in Eccellenza.
From quarter-finals in Serie D to bottom of Eccellenza in two and a half years
The turning point came on 3 February 2024, when engineer Montanari’s company, Global Service spa, acquired the majority stake in Victor San Marino. The former president, Luca Della Balda, who retained a minority share, stated the following day that he could do «nothing but acknowledge the total absence of Sammarinese entrepreneurs», whom he considered deaf to the pleas for help from the Republic’s only semi-professional football club.
At the time, the team was fourth in Serie D with 57 points and heading into the play-offs.
Montanari’s first season ended with a hard-fought survival in the league, while relations with football’s governing bodies began generating disciplinary proceedings. But it was in the 2025-2026 season that the financial troubles became public: in April 2026, the squad took a public stand through the Italian Footballers’ Association (AIC), flagging not only accounting problems but also issues in the team’s day-to-day organization.
Then came relegation from Serie D, following a lost play-out against Recanatese, and registration in Eccellenza, achieved only after once again settling outstanding debts with players.
The question of the name
San Marino Calcio is a club affiliated with the FIGC that plays in Italy and is not affiliated with either the Sammarinese Olympic Committee or the Sammarinese Football Federation. Yet it carries the country’s name, and that alone is enough for its troubles to be linked to the Republic.
Rossano Fabbri, Secretary of State for Industry, Crafts, Trade, Technological Research, Telecommunications and Sport, addressed the issue directly.
«One thing needs to be made clear: regardless of the name it carries, San Marino Calcio is a club that has nothing to do with the Republic of San Marino. It is not affiliated with our Olympic Committee, nor with our Football Federation. It bears the name, but in reality it has nothing to do with San Marino. It doesn’t even play in the Republic».
The affair, he added, has «raised red flags» at the Secretariat: «What certainly can no longer happen in future is for someone to make use of the name of the Republic of San Marino without the Institutions being aware of it».
The Secretariat’s inquiries, Fabbri explained, have been underway for weeks: «Once the Secretariat has completed its work, using the name San Marino will require institutional vetting». He also announced that news on the countermeasures under consideration would arrive shortly: «Because if you use the name San Marino, you need to actually be from San Marino and answer to the Sammarinese Institutions — and that, as things stand, is not the case».
