Claudio Lotito

A very substantial proportion of Lazio supporters boycotted home matches and season tickets to demand Lotito's departure. Season ticket renewals fell dramatically, while thousands of supporters chose to remain outside the stadium while continuing to support the team.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Lazio faced restrictions on its transfer market activity after failing to meet certain economic and liquidity requirements governing the registration of new contracts. Lotito acknowledged the restriction while challenging the rationale and timing of the rule.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Lotito was among several executives tried in the Milan proceedings of the Fuorigioco operation, concerning the alleged use of false invoices in certain player transactions. He was acquitted.

Legal status — source text

Acquitted / conviction overturned

Attribution

Directly implicated

Course of the proceedings

1. Formally charged — Formal charge before the current outcome

Shortly after his election to the Senate, Lotito supported a measure allowing professional clubs to regularise certain tax debts through instalment payments. His dual roles as senator and Lazio president fuelled allegations that the legislation was tailored to clubs and involved a conflict of interest.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The FIGC brought disciplinary proceedings against Lotito, Lazio and club doctors for failures in communicating and managing Covid test results. Lotito initially received a seven-month sanction, increased to twelve months on appeal. CONI partially annulled the decision and referred the case back; the final sanction was reduced to two months.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Paolo Di Canio brought proceedings against Lotito over insulting remarks. The criminal aspect ended without a conviction following the decriminalisation of insult, but the Terni civil court ordered Lotito to pay 30,000 euros in damages.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Salernitana's promotion to Serie A created an incompatibility with rules prohibiting the same economic interests from controlling two clubs in the same division, as Lotito was linked to both Lazio and Salernitana. A trust had to be established under FIGC supervision, with a requirement to sell the club within a specified period.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Lotito was among those investigated in the extensive Milan case concerning Infront and the management of football television rights. In January 2018, prosecutors requested that the investigation be closed.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Publication of a recording between Lotito and Pino Iodice triggered major controversy over influence within professional football and an investigation into attempted extortion. The FIGC closed its own case in July 2015, and the criminal justice authorities closed the extortion investigation in 2017.

Attribution

Directly implicated

After antisemitic stickers attributed to Lazio supporters were discovered, Lotito announced symbolic initiatives and a visit to the synagogue. A recording in which he described the visit as a “staged performance” [sceneggiata] sparked renewed controversy and criticism of the sincerity of his response.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Lotito was convicted at first instance in 2009, then on appeal in 2012, in a case concerning Lazio shares. In 2013–2014, the Court of Cassation declared the market manipulation and obstruction of regulatory supervision charges time-barred, while upholding liability for failure to dispose of excess shareholdings and remitting the case solely for sentencing. In January 2015, the Milan Court of Appeal set the sentence at three months, converted into 3,420 euros, with an additional fine of 500 euros reported by the sources.

Attribution

Directly implicated

The FIGC referred Lotito for disciplinary proceedings over public statements directed at Pino Iodice, an Ischia executive. The disciplinary proceedings concluded with a fine of 10,000 euros.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

€10,000 sporting fine

Attribution

Directly implicated

The federal prosecutor opened proceedings concerning an offensive term Lotito allegedly used against Serie B president Andrea Abodi. Following an investigation, the FIGC closed the case, finding that it had not been established that the disputed word was actually spoken.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

In the investigation into Catania matches, a court order raised the possibility that Lotito had intervened in relation to Catania–Avellino. However, the magistrates stated that this hypothesis had not been confirmed, and Lotito was not formally placed under investigation in this aspect of the case.

State of the evidence

Unconfirmed

In the Calciopoli criminal trial in Naples, Lotito was sentenced at first instance to one year and three months for sporting fraud. On appeal, the court found that the limitation period had expired.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Course of the proceedings

1. Formally charged — Formal charge before the current outcome

In a collective case concerning agents, the FIGC accused Lotito of using Federico Pastorello's services through his company P&P Sport Management for Sebastiano Siviglia's contract, with mandate and filing arrangements that did not comply with the regulations. Lotito requested the application of an agreed sanction under Article 23 of the Sporting Justice Code.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Legal status — source text

€25,000 sporting fine

Attribution

Directly implicated

Sporting disciplinary authorities sanctioned Lotito in a case concerning irregularities in player representation and intermediary activities, particularly involving Mauro Zárate and Julio Cruz. A ten-month period of ineligibility imposed at first instance was reduced to two months on appeal.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Following a non-final criminal conviction and the application of new federation rules, Lotito was provisionally suspended from his duties on the FIGC Federal Council. His appeals before sporting and subsequently administrative bodies were rejected.

Attribution

Directly implicated

During the dispute between Lazio and CONI over the Stadio Olimpico, Lotito made highly critical remarks, describing, among other things, a system comparable to extortion. Sporting disciplinary authorities sanctioned him; the period of ineligibility and the fine were subsequently reduced on appeal.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Lotito was sanctioned in the sporting proceedings arising from Calciopoli. Following a much heavier initial sanction, appeals and sporting arbitration reduced his period of ineligibility to four months.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Lotito was arrested in 1992 in an investigation concerning a regional cleaning contract, amid suspicions relating to the contract award conditions and the circulation of administrative information. Later profiles report that he emerged completely unscathed from the case.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Course of the proceedings

1. Formally charged — Formal charge before the current outcome