Lazio President Claudio Lotito hit back at the “ambush” of recorded phone calls released to the media, defending his comments.
The controversy has erupted today after Lotito’s conversation was leaked to La Repubblica newspaper by Ischia director general Pino Iodice.
Lazio President Claudio Lotito hit back at the “ambush” of recorded phone calls released to the media, defending his comments.
The controversy has erupted today after Lotito’s conversation was leaked to La Repubblica newspaper by Ischia director general Pino Iodice.
This evening Lotito released a statement insisting the point of this conversation was “to examine the planned reforms of Italian football, starting from lega Pro, relative to objectives and issues that were proposed at the meeting of clubs.
“It was about finding new sources of revenue and not being so reliant on television networks, whose resources tend to drop when dealing with a club that has a limited fanbase.
“Therefore, I warned there was a negative aspect to provincial clubs making it into Serie A, as it would risk reducing the television rights package and consequently reducing the income for all the clubs.
“I certainly did not intend to stop minor clubs challenging the bigger ones. These reform plans are the scope of my involvement in football, something I have been pushing forward for years, such as the battle to construct club-owned stadiums and provide autonomous funding.
“Trying to contraband my evaluations into an attempt to influence the regular outcome of a tournament to favour the big clubs is nothing but libellous falsehood aimed at discrediting me and preventing me from continuing the renewal process of the FIGC.
“In my comments during the phone call, I also underlined the collegial nature of the sporting organisations, pointing out that the Presidents do not make decisions per se, but are there to represent the votes taken by clubs in Lega meetings.
“If people read my comments in that sense, what I said will appear logical and connected to a plan of reforms that I have many times pushed for in public.
“If my statements are used in this way – as you can tell by the comments of the person to ‘organised his ambush’ and the media who wanted to amplify his vision – it is falsifying the situation to aid a person who was trying to subvert a legitimate approach via democratic and transparent methods. It’s a long way from the furtive recording of phone calls aimed at creating a scandal.
“This sort of behaviour does not seem suited to a registered member of the football world, nor any citizen.”