Bologna Suspend 4 Staff Members After Forgetting to Pick Up New Player Ibson

Four members of the Bologna technical team have been suspended after it emerged that a new transfer signing was left without a welcome wagon upon his arrival in Italy.

Reuters (h/t Yahoo!) reports that the staff were meant to greet the newly acquired Ibson, who completed a late move to the Serie A outfit from Corinthians, but they simply forgot their duties.

An excerpt from the report reads: "Club president Albano Guaraldi was reportedly furious after the Brazilian arrived on Sunday, only to find there was nobody to greet him or pick him up."

Martin Mejia/Associated Press

Paul Watson of Here Is The City says that technical director Adriano Polenta, secretary general Luca Befani, communication chief Carlo Caliceti and marketing man Andrea Battacchi are the four men currently being held accountable for the mix-up.

Ibson was one of just two January transfers made by the Italian outfit during the winter window, with former Malmo midfielder Erik Friberg being the other piece of business.

The Brazilian made 18 appearances for Corinthians in their 2013 Brasileiro Serie A campaign, according to Transfermarkt, and he holds previous European experience from his time spent at Spartak Moscow and Porto respectively.

Having now come back to the continent, however, things haven't exactly gotten off on the best of notes for the attacking midfield veteran.

As things stand, Bologna are just one point clear of the Italian top flight's relegation spots, and they face the very real possibility of becoming further embroiled in the fight against the drop.

However, the Greyhounds will be hoping that it's the impact of players such as Ibson that can turn their fortunes around. That being said, it might have been a logical move to give the 30-year-old a morale boost instead of leaving him in wait at the airport.

Sky Sports' South American correspondent Paulo Freitas suggests that the journeyman is well on his decline, though:

Perhaps it's due to lapses in concentration such as this that Bologna find themselves in their current relegation mire, with matters in need of attention within their own camp.