As Sven Hotz's successor, Ancillo Canepa remembers more than just sporting conversations - together with his wife Heliane, he talks about the special relationship with the late former FCZ president in the "Heimspiel" program on blue Sport.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Ancillo and Heliane Canepa remember the long-time FCZ president Sven Hotz, who recently passed away, in the "Heimspiel" talk show. They emphasize their close and friendly relationship with him.
- Hotz once thoroughly vetted successor candidate Ancillo Canepa. Hotz impressed Canepa with his memory and his chaotic and orderly office.
- In a humorous anecdote, Heliane Canepa describes her first meeting with Hotz - including an explanation of a saying from a song lyric by the Zurich Südkurve that "you can't tell a lady."
Sven Hotz died at the beginning of December. He had been elected president of FCZ in 1986 and stepped down 20 years later after the 2006 championship title. His successor: Ancillo Canepa.
In the "Heimspiel" program, Canepa recalled his first meeting with Hotz: "There was an interview in a daily newspaper in which Hotz said he wanted to increase the capital. He was looking for new shareholders. Then we said: 'Let's go along with it'. Without any ulterior motives. I wrote him a letter. I probably didn't hear anything for two or three months."
Hotz later told him why Canepa hadn't heard anything. "Hotz made an investigation and said I had no skeletons in the closet. Suddenly I got a phone and I arranged to meet him in his office. His office must have been a hundred square meters. He had a big desk. The rest of the office was simply covered with paper and documents, some of them in piles several meters high. I'd never seen anything like it. The funniest thing was when I said we were looking for this or that. He immediately found the documents within a minute. That was really incredible," Ancillo Canepa marvels.
Hotz also had a special greeting in store for him: "When he saw me, he didn't say: 'Hello, Cillo'. He always said: 'Hello, young man'. And I was already 53, 54 years old at the time. That always irritated me. Now that I'm also at an advanced age (72 years old - editor's note), I can understand that. Someone who is 50 years old is also a young man to me."
"We lived together - that's why it's very sad"
Funnily enough, they talked relatively little about football. Instead, Hotz told him his whole life story. "It was impressive how he still knew all the details. He really never told me the same story twice. He always knew exactly what he had already told me - incredible," Canepa emphasizes and adds: "We were friends."
Heliane adds that they were also good friends with the family and always celebrated birthdays together. "We lived together. That's why it's very sad. On the other hand, everyone says he's been redeemed. But he's really no longer here. It's still sad," summarizes Heliane Canepa.
She also still has vivid memories of her first meeting with Hotz - at an FCZ match. "The south curve started singing 'Your mother'. Afterwards I couldn't understand anything. Then I asked him what they were singing," says Heliane Canepa. "I can't tell a lady that," Hotz told her. "I thought it was crazy. Afterwards, of course, I brought it out," says the 77-year-old with a laugh.
