‘What I’ve done has never been done before’ – Lotito defiant as Lazio sale rumours and fan revolt grow | OneFootball

Claudio Lotito has emphatically rejected suggestions that Lazio are up for sale, intercepted in the corridors of the Italian Senate to reinforce an official club statement released earlier in the day that categorically denied any ongoing negotiations over a potential takeover.

The Lazio president was characteristically unrepentant, dismissing the growing supporter revolt and the Curva Nord’s announced boycott of season tickets and home matches with a defiant shrug.

“Fear? No,” Lotito said, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb. “Because I do not do things in material terms. For me Lazio is an emotion and I want to build emotions. They do not want to come to the stadium? It is legitimate. I work with responsibility, without material interests.”

epa11068012 Lazio�s president Claudio Lotito celebrates after winning the Coppa Italia quarter final soccer match between SS Lazio and AS Roma, in Rome, Italy, 10 January 2024. EPA-EFE/FABIO FRUSTACI

Lotito dismisses Lazio fan accusations and claims his football legacy is unmatched in Italian history

On the criticism that he has robbed supporters of the right to dream, Lotito was equally forthright.

“I also want to dream, but I want to dream for the future, not only the present,” he said.

“I wrote an open letter to report things as they are, without exaggerating what I have done. What I have done for football has never been done before in history. I took Salernitana from the Eccellenza and brought them to Serie A.”

On his open letter to Il Messaggero, Lotito said: “I sleep three hours a night. I wrote this letter at night and sent it, then I did not sit and watch the reactions.”

Rumoured interest in Reggina was also swiftly dismissed: “Those are just talk.”