Lazio without Lazio. Fans are boycotting the stadium to oust Lotito

The situation is so surreal that, every now and then, unfounded rumours start doing the rounds. One of the latest claims that Claudio Lotito has put together a consortium to buy Reggina, so ‘if he buys the Calabrian side, it means he’s selling Lazio’, say the fans’ chat groups, with some hoping, praying and hoping some more. “But for now there’s no truth in it at all; it’s a hoax, all nonsense!”, say others, trying to calm things down. We’re talking about the most surreal protest ever staged in Italian football: the Biancazzurri supporters’ fan boycott against Lotito. In early June, they issued a scathing statement against Lazio’s ownership, announcing that they would not be attending the stadium or taking out any season tickets for the coming season either, leaving the north stand and the other stands empty (30–40,000 fans absent), with the sole exception of the two derbies against Roma. Not only that: they have also announced they are cancelling their pay-TV subscriptions, with the aim of inflicting further financial damage, given that the club’s only sources of income, apart from ticket sales and sponsors, are television rights. Social media is currently awash with videos of supporters posting footage of their cancellations with Sky and DAZN. “We’ll meet up to watch the matches in the pub,” quips one fan. There is also a political angle, as the boycott is intended to affect Senator Lotito’s party: Forza Italia. Some propose extending it to the entire centre-right, so that “we’ll definitely make them lose in Rome”.

The fan boycott began this year, following the January transfer window, during which Lotito only sold players. The Olimpico has remained half-empty except for the Lazio v Milan match and the Coppa Italia final, Lazio v Inter. But the discontent has been simmering for at least a couple of years. The accusation is as follows: Lotito is no longer investing in the team; he’s just muddling through. So, if he no longer believes in the club and has no money to invest, he should step down, step aside and put the club up for sale. The chairman, however, seems unshakeable: he’s carrying on as usual and shows no sign of considering a sale. And now Rino Gattuso has just taken charge on the touchline. “I like Gattuso; he might be a good choice – we’ll see. But the situation is no longer sustainable. Playing without the support of your own fans is like always being away from home. It’s very detrimental from a sporting point of view. I agree with all the reasons behind the protest, which is justified even if it doesn’t achieve its aim. After all, who wouldn’t agree…?”, observes Franco Cordelli, an influential Italian theatre critic and columnist for Corriere della Sera. “Over the last couple of years, the club and the team have fallen apart; watching Lazio play is now incredibly boring, even when they win…”, emphasises Cordelli.

We’ve seen it all in recent weeks: a petition with 47,000 signatures from supporters against the chairman; "Il Tempo" interviewing a celebrity supporter every day in a column called "Agorà Lazio"; Pino Insegno, who has rewritten Mark Antony’s oration and even the replicant’s monologue from Blade Runner in an anti-Lotito vein; the chat groups of Biancazzurri fans and journalists are in turmoil, divided between extremists and moderates. “Every protest is legitimate, provided it is peaceful, and this one even strikes me as Gandhian: one tool the fans have to voice their dissent is a ‘fan strike’, and they are putting it into practice. It is an understandable expression of disappointment with the club’s management. After all, we are all unhappy with the results of the last two years. I do have some doubts, however, that this ad libitum protest will lead to any tangible results. It might not achieve anything…”, says Giuseppe Cruciani, journalist and presenter of "La Zanzara" on Radio 24. He adds: “I’m not joining the ranks of the professional anti-Lotito camp; the chairman has done some good things, even if he should now get back to making the fans dream again. But as for the political boycott of "Forza Italia" – that, yes, strikes me as a load of rubbish…”. Meanwhile, the most varied rumours continue: yesterday, Lazio’s share price on the Milan Stock Exchange rose and, according to the Calcio e Finanza website, this was reportedly due to whispers of “possible announcements by Lotito to the financial markets by the end of the week, after the market closes”. So is he selling?