Lotito Vows to Overcome ‘Crazy’ Ban, Reveals Death Threats From Lazio Fans | OneFootball

This is a club of fighters. On the pitch the lads are showing they are proud to wear our colours. We want to be the Capital’s number-one team, and we will be! I’m saying this to coach Sarri: we are confident about the future. We have international appeal, even overseas. On Tuesday, my son (Enrico) will ring the bell at NASDAQ — it will be only the second time in history for a football club. We will build the Flaminio stadium, complete the Academy works and make the team more competitive without undermining those already in the squad. The club will not shy away from initiatives aimed at strengthening the team. Here we reward merit; we have a DNA different from the others.

In the summer we were seriously wronged on the market. They say we’re failing, but there is no risk of insolvency. Have faith — the facts will speak. The transfer ban is incomprehensible. Fortunately, in the past I had put together a major recruitment campaign, spending as much as €117 million, otherwise we wouldn’t even have had a team to play with. But the damage was enormous: I would have sold two players for significant fees, and I was negotiating to sell two more for a combined €50 million. We couldn’t even sign players for the youth sector — unheard of! The indicator was meant to prevent clubs from going bust, and we didn’t have that risk. A friend of mine, a bank director, thought they were crazy. We suffered reputational and image damage that someone used instrumentally against me. No one lied, and I hid nothing: we were simply convinced that, in the worst-case scenario, we would operate on a zero net spend. The parameter penalised only Lazio because we are a virtuous club that doesn’t take loans, has no leasing, bonds or debt. Our market should never have been blocked! You’ll see that 80% of teams will have problems — they’re all seething.

The betrayed party here is me, when rumours are spread suggesting Lazio are for sale. The club is not scalable — unfortunately, they’ll have to put up with me. They threaten me with death, and I’m supposed to make a gesture towards them?! When they put up protest banners with political overtones, they only strengthen me. They’re the ones creating a climate of tension, which then penalises the team. Recent refereeing decisions are also the responsibility of the fan base, which isn’t united. I won’t judge the referees’ work, but anyone who watches the matches knows exactly what’s going on. From the outside there are those who stoke hatred; I hope for their sake there isn’t a hidden control room pulling the strings. But on the inside, the team is calm and everyone has been paid on time.

Saiba mais sobre o veículo