Fiorentina have released a statement insisting Inter President Steven Zhang and his directors never accused President Rocco Commisso of ‘aggressive and intimidating’ behaviour, blaming the media for spreading misinformation about an incident that ‘never took place.’
The Disciplinary Committee has opened up an investigation into the incidents that were reported after the 4-3 Inter victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday.
This was decided despite the lack of any reference to post-match clashes in the official referee’s report.
It was claimed in various newspapers that President Commisso had banged on a door of the locker room, while directors Joe Barone and Beppe Marotta got into a shouting match in the stands.
However, Fiorentina have always denied anything happened and now released a statement corroborating that.
“ACF Fiorentina can confirm that Inter president Steven Zhang has spoken to Fiorentina general manager Giuseppe Barone,” read the statement.
“The Nerazzurri president clarified that neither he nor any other club directors ever claimed – at any time or to any individual – what was published by some newspapers on Saturday evening after the Fiorentina v Inter match. These reports alleged that president Rocco Commisso behaved in an aggressive and intimidating manner in the away dressing room. This never took place.
“Fiorentina has taken note of what president Zhang said and would like to highlight that some members of the press are quick to portray president Rocco Commisso in a bad light without carrying out due and diligent checks on the reliability of their information and sources, publicly attributing bad behaviour to Fiorentina’s president which has no factual grounding .
“Sadly once again we are left to rue the fact that the club and its fans have fallen victim to inaccurate reporting by certain members of the media, who reported plainly false information which has caused serious damage to the image of the club and the president.
“We reiterate that Fiorentina has the greatest respect for journalists and their work and expects this to be reciprocated with the club and its employees by not publishing unverified stories which have no basis in reality.”
There were scenes of violence in the stands after the final whistle of this dramatic and controversial match, but between sets of supporters.
A man who physically attacked a supporter wearing a Federico Dimarco Inter jersey has been identified and charged.