Commisso: ‘Italian system a disgrace, I don’t envy Juventus, Inter and Milan’ | OneFootball

Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso says the Italian Football system is a ‘disgrace’ as it doesn’t allow clubs to invest in new stadiums, but he does not envy top sides that win ‘thanks to debts’.

Commisso released an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in which he discussed the Italian football system and Fiorentina’s results during his five-year spell at the club’s helm.

“We have reached two Conference League finals and one in Coppa Italia,” he said.

“We are sorry we didn’t win, but three Finals in five years is a big result. We hoped we’d do even more in Serie A and we are around the 7th-8th placement. We can and want to climb the table, but if we put together the results, the investments and the creation of a new training centre that everyone admires, I think the overall judgment is surely positive.”

Fiorentina have built one of the most developed training centres in Europe, but are still unable to create a new stadium.

“It’s a sore point. Unfortunately, the Italian football system is a disgrace, not just for us but all those who want to invest,” said Commisso.

Commisso: ‘Italian system a disgrace, I don’t envy Juventus, Inter and Milan’

“Municipalities own everything and put one thousand limits that, in the end, block private investors who are ready to progress. Clubs must own stadiums, not municipalities. I don’t believe it’s my fault, but I consider the lack of a new stadium my biggest failure. Perhaps I should say the biggest regret because I was not allowed to do it. We could not change anything in five years, and with the works at the Stadio Franchi, more will pass.”

Doesn’t he envy top Serie A clubs?

“No, because these victories arrived thanks to absurd debt situations, which nearly led clubs to bankruptcy and then put them in the hands of funds that had not received money back,” the Fiorentina President insisted.

“I’m still wondering whether some teams that won in the past could even register for the season. I was about to buy Milan, but Mister Li got it, and you know how it finished. How about Zhang? We no longer know where he is. He was also forced to leave Inter due to debts with Oaktree. Then Juventus. After Ronaldo, Exor had to make a €900m cash injection to balance the books despite €450m annual revenue, three times more than Fiorentina. In terms of dimension and revenue, we can compare ourselves to Atalanta, which have been better than us in terms of results, but their project, including infrastructures, started earlier. I can’t envy the others.”

Commisso hopes Fiorentina will win a trophy and dedicate it to his friend Joe Barone, who tragically died earlier this year.

“I miss him a lot, it was a disgrace to lose him,” said Commisso.

“He helped me so much and did an excellent job for Fiorentina within the Lega Calcio and at Viola Park. General Director Alessandro Ferrari worked close to him over the last few years and is bringing his work forward alongside Daniele Pradé. We dream of winning a trophy to dedicate to Joe. Hopefully, we’ll make it this year.”

During the same interview, Commisso spoke about Fiorentina’s sales and insisted that he made a good business by selling Federico Chiesa to Juventus in 2020.