Filmauro’s grip tightens as Bari faces court-ordered liquidation

At Bari’s headquarters in southern Italy, investigators sealed documents late Tuesday evening, a visual echo of the club’s collapse. The Bari Prosecutor’s Office has opened judicial liquidation proceedings against Serie C club Bari, exposing a financial crisis prosecutors directly link to alleged mismanagement by Aurelio De Laurentiis and his son Luigi.

Searches were conducted simultaneously at Bari’s headquarters and Filmauro’s offices, where both De Laurentiises are under investigation for false accounting and fraudulent bankruptcy. The investigation spans Bari’s financial statements from 2019 to 2025, which prosecutors describe as revealing recurring losses of around €30 million over that period.

Prosecutors highlight a substantial capital deficit and mounting debt, with no credible restructuring plan identified during their review. They describe the club’s financial records as highlighting a “serious economic and financial imbalance capable of jeopardising business continuity.”

Bari’s relegation from Serie B to Serie C in the 2025-26 season has deepened its precarious position. Despite these pressures, Bari remains operational only due to extraordinary financial support from Filmauro, its sole shareholder, through capital injections, debt waivers and the revaluation of the club’s trademark.

A critical transaction under scrutiny involves goalkeeper Elia Caprile. Bari signed Caprile from Leeds United in 2022, with a sell-on clause included for Leeds. When Caprile moved to Napoli a year later, investigators allege Bari’s right to a bonus on future capital gains was omitted, transferring the player’s entire future economic value to Napoli.

Caprile’s subsequent moves—to Empoli on loan and then permanently to Cagliari for €8 million last summer—further deepened Bari’s financial distress, prosecutors allege. The investigation has also extended to former Bari director Ciro Polito, ex-Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli (now at Atalanta), Mauro Meluso (Napoli sporting director in 2023-24) and Caprile’s agent Graziano Battistini.

Searches were conducted at their premises, though none are currently under investigation. The technical analysis of Bari’s financial statements from 2019 to 2025 prompted prosecutors to argue that the club’s financial imbalances pose an existential threat to its continuity.

Filmauro, the holding company linked to Aurelio De Laurentiis, has provided the only lifeline keeping Bari afloat amid the crisis.

The judicial liquidation proceedings mark a turning point for a club whose financial mismanagement has now drawn criminal scrutiny.