"He gave the city a great name with the Champions League". This is what you read among the reasons with which it was given by the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore honorary citizenship to Joey Saputo, patron of Bologna Calcio since June 2015. The industrialist, son of Emanuele "Lino" Saputo founder of Saputo Incorporated, is owner of one of the colossi of the world dairy, the Canadian family company Saputo Dairy. Honorary citizenship was voted by the city council which unanimously recognized the honor.

His first speech as a "bolognese" Saputo concluded by quoting the president of the Italian National Football League, Renato Dall'Ara (to whom the Bologna stadium is named after), the very president who remained at the helm of the club from 1934 to 1964, and who won the tricolor five times: in 1935-36, in 1937, in 1939 and 1941 and 1963-64. 

"An example for the new generations" was defined by the mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore, who welcomed the patron rossoblù, a Canadian of Italian origin, to Palazzo D'Accursio where the honour was given: his wife Carmie and son Luca were also there. The entrepreneur, we remember, is heir to a multimillion-dollar industrial empire in the dairy sector, given that the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024 closed on 31 March 2024 with revenues of USD 4.545 billion, up 1.7%.

"It always was, but now it’s official: welcome Joey, you’re one of us -said the mayor shaking hands during the ceremony-. We need examples and Saputo represents, beyond the sporting results culminating in qualification for the Champions League -notes the first citizen-. Because the Champions is the culmination of an entrepreneurial and sporting program, which through football will act as a flywheel for the image and economy of the entire city. You have invested in Bologna and the city with competence, vision of the future, work, suffering and driving and now the results are visible to all. Joey has done things well - continues Lepore - and this is to set an example. It has generated something precious: we saw it in the tens of thousands of people who poured into the streets for the Champions party. He acted understanding that the Bologna is a heritage of all of us. Welcome to our fellow citizen Joey".

Receiving the honor, Saputo said that now lives almost more in Bologna than in Canada: he then recalled the tragedy of the illness and the death of former coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. "I am proud and excited -said Saputo on receiving the honorary citizenship. I’ve been thinking about the first time I arrived in Bologna: not in 2014 when I took over the club, but in February 2012, to bring Di Vaio to Montreal. I arrived in Bologna by train and it was snowing: I thought it wasn’t so different from Canada, I felt at home".

"I have owned Bologna for 10 years and the balance is very positive -continues Saputo-. Ten beautiful, unforgettable years, with difficult moments when the sports results were not up to expectations square. But when I decided to buy majority club told me my intention was to build from the bottom and today’s results are the result of a tree with deep roots. The Champions was the crowning of commitment and work. But football and Bologna go beyond this, and the demonstration was given by the reaction of people to the tragedy of Mihajlovic, who found a second family in Bologna". Finally, Saputo, thanking, quotes Lucio Dalla. "I thank you -he says- for having welcomed me in a city that is welcoming and where not even a child is lost".