Serge Cess: FC Südtirol is going to court for him

The life story of Serge Rene Cess Nignama, the full name of the African rough diamond, has something special in itself. His father, who came across the Mediterranean as a refugee around the turn of the millennium, brought his son to Italy two years ago. Until then, for Cess, football was just a form of pastime that offered him a distraction from the harshness of everyday life. On dusty pitches in the suburbs of the capital Abidjan, he dizzyingly dribbled past his opponents. He enthusiastically put on the uniforms of top European clubs and imitated the biggest stars of international football with his friends. Cess was once invited to audition for an international soccer school in his hometown, but the 1,83-meter tall guy never had a club.

The scouts rubbed their eyes It initially stayed that way in his new home. It wasn't until his peers took him to train with a youth team from Serie D club Legnago Salus that the wheels began to turn. Several scouts and player agents became aware of him. “A Brazilian player observer who we have been working with for years approached us. He was enthusiastic about his abilities,” recalls FC Südtirol managing director Dietmar Pfeifer. The club officials invited Cess to the team training camp in Ridnaun Valley. There he caused tongues to click in the stands during his first test match appearance. At FCS we were immediately aware that we had a big fish on our hands. “The boy has what it takes to make it big,” were the comments at the White-Red club headquarters. Cess could be a reinforcement for the professional squad at FC Südtirol and possibly bring a lot of money into the club's coffers on the transfer market.

Does the FCS get the ball rolling?

However, this fairytale story has a catch: Cess is registered in Italy as a non-EU citizen and is therefore not eligible to play in the Lega Pro according to the association's statutes. The bureaucratic hiccup dragged on for months until FC Südtirol finally hired a lawyer. “It cannot be the case that the 19-year-old son of an Italian citizen (Cess' father has long since had the Italian passport, editor's note) is not allowed to play in the third highest league. That would be counterproductive and would contradict any legal situation,” said Pfeifer. The association finally went to the Ordinary Court in Verona, which finally ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on May 2nd. The West African native is eligible to play in the Lega Pro. The FCS then took immediate action and registered Cess with the league association on May 15th. From next season he will be available to the White-Reds in the championship.

The Football Association, however, fears that a precedent has been set here and that a whole series of lawsuits could follow. Such a complicated case is so far unique in Italy, but the Lega Pro's strict regulations on foreigners have repeatedly been heavily criticized in similar matters. So it could well be that FC Südtirol has got a big ball rolling here. Cess himself probably doesn't care much about that at the moment. He has turned his focus to the coming season, where he finally has the chance to prove his class in professional football.

SN/Alexander Foppa

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Serge Cess: FC Südtirol is going to court for him

A 19-year-old from the Ivory Coast has been training at FC Südtirol for almost a year. Experts predict he will have a glorious career. But before he could be registered for a club for the first time, the judges had to take action. They may have set a precedent in Italian football.

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