Apart from having their captain arrested in a match fixing scandal, it is unclear where Rome’s Lazio will play next season. It could be 400 miles away from the Eternal City as Claudio Lotito, the club’s president, has registered Palmero’s Barbera ground as the home venue for Lazio’s Europa League games next season.
Apart from having their captain arrested in a match fixing scandal, it is unclear where Rome’s Lazio will play next season. It could be 400 miles away from the Eternal City as Claudio Lotito, the club’s president, has registered Palmero’s Barbera ground as the home venue for Lazio’s Europa League games next season.
Lottio is in dispute over rent with the owners of the Olympic Stadium where Lazio have played for most of their history. This in spite of the fact that the club made about £7m in their last financial year and have made some £60m in profits since Lottio took over eight years ago.
Lottio, who made his money with a cleaning firm and then married into a wealthy Roman family, has a reputation as a wheeler and dealer and a sometimes ruthless negotiator. He persuaded the Italian Parliament to pass a special law alloowing Lazio to pay their outstanding tax bill of £120m over 23 years rather than the usual five. No wonder Italy has a chronic budget deficit.
Lottio is engaged in a game of brinkmanship as he calculates that the owners of the stadium need Lazio’s rent as much as he needs a place to play.
Lottio was caught up in the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 after which the club were penalised. He also faced a civil trial and was sentenced to 15 months in custody, but has lodged an appeal. He is also appealing a two-year sentence he received in 2009 in a separate trial for tampering with Lazio’s share price.
Knowing how slowly the wheels of Italian justice turn, he may never see the inside of a cell. The brother of a friend of mine was a naughty boy with a machine gun in the days of the Brigado Rosso, but was eventually released because of the statute of limitations.