Sergio Cragnotti is the most successful president in the history of Lazio. A scudetto, the Coppa Italia twice (even if the 2004 one can also be attributed to him), the Super Coppa twice, a Cup Winners Cup and a UEFA Super Cup. A decade of victories, great players. Mind you, he was the richest president the club has ever had, so that could explain the victories, but only in part. He was a great entrepreneur who was able to manage the club professionally and it was that professionalism that made Lazio great in those years. But he did make mistakes. Costly ones, that led both to his downfall – financial and political – as well as Lazio’s.
Cragnotti was born in Rome on January 9, 1940. After a degree in Economics he started working for Calce e Cementi Selce, a firm part of the Bombrini Parodi Delfino group. He then became Administrative Director of SAMA, also part of the group. After nine years he was asked to manage Cimento Santa Rita in Brazil since it was a market that was growing strongly and the group felt they needed a firmer hand in the management. Leaving his family behind, he left for Sâo Paolo and did very well. The Brazilian company was later purchased by the Feruzzi group and Cragnotti was able to meet the great Serafino Ferruzzi.
Serafino Ferruzzi was one of the most venerated and successful Italian entrepreneurs. During the 1960s his group became one of the largest trading companies in the world and purchased large agricultural estates. He also had a place on the Chicago Commodity Exchange, the largest in the world: Serafino was the only Italian there. Apart from agriculture, the group also invested in concrete and the processing of oilseeds.
Ferruzzi took a liking for the young Sergio and soon Cragnotti was in charge of all the Brazilian assets of the group. At Serafino's death, Raul Gardini, the boss’ son in law, became the new boss. Cragnotti left Brazil and was put in charge of the activities in France but he soon went back to Italy and worked his way up the Montedison ladder first as vice president and later as CEO.
Montedison was a chemical-pharmaceutical company which also had assets such as Standa (chain of department stores). In the 1980s the chemical sector was headed by Eni, a state-owned company, and Montedison. Gardini had the dream of building an Italian colossus that could compete internationally. In 1988 ENI and Montedison created the joint venture Enimont where the chemical activities of both groups converged. It was a massive operation increasing the indebtment of Montedison. Gardini decided to sell some of the less profitable assets and Cragnotti was in charge of the sale of Standa which was purchased by Silvio Berlusoni for a large sum. Silvio was not happy with the way Cragnotti had managed the deal. Enrico Cuccia, Italian banker and great manoeuvrer of Italian finance, said of Cragnotti that he would be able to sell fridges to the eskimos.
Enimont did not last long. Gardini wanted to have control but he had to deal with people who were more politicians than economists and in the end ENI bought out Montedision’s share.
Once Enimont was no more, Cragnotti went solo and founded the merchant bank Cragnotti & Partners. His aim was to buy companies in difficulty, rebuild them and sell them off. He bought Bombril (Brazilian company leader in domestic detergents), Lawson Mardon (Canadian packaging company), Bril (shoe polisher) and the Auction House Semenzato. His next adventure was the acquisition of Polenghi Lombardo (milk). All these acquisitions were made with the help of Banca di Roma, founded in 1992 after the merger of three Rome based banks: Banco di Santo Spirito, Cassa di Risparmio di Roma and Banco di Roma.
Banca di Roma in 1992 “suggested” Cragnotti to buy Lazio. According to Cragnotti’s autobiography, they were not entirely happy with the way Gianmarco Calleri was managing the club. Sergio had always been a Lazio supporter and his brother Giovanni strongly pushed him to accept the deal. Nobody knew who Cragnotti was outside the financial community but Renato Bocchi, the entrepreneur who had bought Lazio from Giorgio Chinaglia together with the Calleri brothers, knew who he was and he spoke about Cragnotti to Calleri.
Sergio’s first appearance at the stadium as a potential buyer was on March 3, 1991 at the game won against Juventus thanks to Karl-Heinz Riedle. Sergio confirmed that he was interested in the acquisition. It took a while but on February 20, 1992, Sergio Cragnotti became president.
He wanted to build a team that could compete at all levels. He had loads of money to spend on the summer transfers.
The Italian Under 21 had won the 1992 European Championship delighting the country. So, his first signings were four players of that team: Mauro Bonomi, Giuseppe Favalli and Dario Marcolin, the first two defenders and the third midfield player, all from Cremonese plus Luca Luzardi, another defender from Brescia. To these he added Roberto Cravero, sweeper and captain of Torino, Aron Winter, midfield player from Ajax Amsterdam and Beppe Signori.
Signori was part of the trio of forwards that had enchanted Serie A with Foggia under Zdenek Zeman (the other two being Roberto Rambaudi and Ciccio Baiano). Ruben Sosa had decided not to renew his contract (big mistake) and had joined Inter. Signori was a perfect replacement.
Cragnotti also finalised the Paul Gascoigne deal, so the great English player would soon be arriving to play in Serie A.
A new era was about to start. Lazio would be a club everyone would need to respect and fear. At least on paper.
In the first year the Biancocelesti qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time since 1977 arriving fifth. In 1993 his first coup: Alen Boksic, the Olympique Marseille Croatian centre forward, who at that time was one of the best strikers in Europe. In 1994, away with manager Dino Zoff and in came Zdenek Zeman. The Czech manager had conquered the hearts of everybody with his super Foggia, made up of unknowns but all functional to his 4-3-3. Cragnotti was bored to tears with the old style of play Zoff’s Lazio had produced and wanted something more spectacular. He however did not want to lose the former Italy captain who had charisma and was very important within Italian football politics, so Zoff was given the role of President of the club.
Under the Czech manager Lazio played well but had numerous blackouts that did not allow the team to fight for winning positions. A second place in 1994 was an excellent result, but Lazio never fought for the title.
Cragnotti thought that the summer transfer window of 1995 was the last opportunity to sell Beppe Signori for a large profit. Signori was sold to Parma for 25 billion lire plus Dino Baggio and Pippo Inzaghi. Lazio needed money so when the Parma President Calisto Tanzi, looking to make his team stronger, made the offer, Cragnotti saw no reason to say no. The rest of the world did however say no. Firstly, the fans who organised a demonstration. 5000 people took to the streets to show their lack of appreciation for the deal. Secondly, the banks said that they would cover the debts only if the deal did not go through. Thirdly President Zoff underlined all the technical problems that would have occurred if the deal did go through. Lastly, Beppe Signori said no. So Signori stayed.
Cragnotti was not pleased and threatened to quit. “I have just put Lazio up for sale. The events that occurred are serious and intolerable. Healthy business management cannot be conducted without complete autonomy”. Lazio arrived third and Signori was top Serie A scorer, but in hindsight he was probably right.
The 1996-97 season was not a good one for the Biancocelesti. After ten games Lazio were 12th, eight points behind surprise leaders Vicenza. The situation improved slightly and after the winning game against Milan at home they had risen to 7th place. But the team was tired of Zeman. Occasionally spectacular, it was difficult to keep the rhythm that the manager wanted and, in the end, Lazio were unable to deliver the goods. Zeman was sacked after losing to Bologna at home in January and replaced by Dino Zoff.
Under Zoff the team re-grouped and managed to reach a UEFA Cup qualification at the end of the season. Cragnotti realised that he needed people with a winning mentality to allow Lazio to make that necessary step forward. In came manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and Roberto Mancini.
The change in mentality was fundamental. Lazio won their first game of the season against Napoli but by the sixth match they were already 8 points behind leaders Inter. They were not playing well. It looked as if there was a problem in the team between the Zeman boys and the new era that had just begun. Eriksson at this point started to put Beppe Signori on the bench and Lazio beat Roma 3-1 playing in ten men for most of the game, but they went two steps back when they lost at home to Udinese and away to Juventus. Eleven games had gone by, Lazio were ninth, 12 points behind Inter.
This was when things changed. In the next six games the Biancocelesti won 5 and drew at Parma reaching fourth place, seven points behind leaders Juventus, at the end of the first part of the season. The team was playing beautifully and were fantastic to watch. After 21 games Lazio had gained a position but were still seven points behind the Bianconeri. In the 22nd game it was Lazio-Inter. The Biancocelesti destroyed the Nerazzurri 3-0 and, thanks to Juve losing in Florence, Lazio took second place and reduced the gap to four points. By the 25th game the deficit was reduced to just two points and the fans, already over the moon for having beaten Roma four times out of four, started to whisper the word “scudetto”. That word had not been mentioned for the past 24 years.Lazio had an enormous opportunity against Piacenza to go joint top but could not manage to score. The game ended 0-0 and the Biancocelesti even lost second place. But there were three teams in two points at the top and this was the situation going into the 28th game with the big match Lazio-Juventus. Here was the chance to go to the top of the table. The Biancocelesti did everything they could to win but Angelo Peruzzi was in a state of grace, then a Pippo Inzaghi goal and a blatant penalty denied to Lazio, which could have allowed the Biancocelesti at least to equalise, shattered the dream. In the next six games Lazio collapsed and could only muster one point. In the end they arrived seventh.
But there was triumph in Coppa Italia. It was not an easy ride. In the quarter finals Lazio had to face Roma. A double derby. The first leg was embarrassing. So clear was Lazio’s superiority that Roma really did not stand a chance. The final result, 4-1 with goals from Boksic, a Jugovic penalty, Mancini and Fuser, meant that Roma had to win the return match 3-0, at least. Strangely enough many Roma supporters were still feeling optimistic. But Lazio won this game too thanks to a Vladimir Jugovic penalty and a fantastic goal from Guerino Gottardi in the dying seconds.
In the Coppa Italia semi-finals in February Lazio faced Juventus who were clear favourites. But the Biancocelesti had been playing very well and there was optimism. They won the first leg in Turin with yet another goal by Boksic. Juventus were stunned by the authority with which Lazio had played and learnt their lesson in time for the return match at the Olimpico in March. The Bianconeri went ahead in the first half with Daniel Fonseca, but Lazio were on another footballing level at that moment and a double from Pavel Nedved sent Lazio into the final. Beppe Favalli’s own goal at the end of the match was only useful for statistics.
The first leg of the final was played in April, three days after Lazio’s defeat against Juventus in Serie A. Lazio played very well and would have deserved to win, but the Milan goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi saved everything that night. In the last minute of the game, Paolo Negro and Alessandro Nesta made a mistake and George Weah scored.
The one goal deficit was possible to overturn in the return match at the Stadio Olimpico but after a goalless first half, Demetrio Albertini scored for Milan in the 46th minute. Lazio now needed to score 3 goals to win the Cup. Eriksson then made a decisive substitution that to many seemed weird. Out went Alessandro Grandoni and in came Gottardi. Nobody could ever have imagined that Guerino would change the match but he did. Little Guerino became Garrincha (or Cristiano Ronaldo for the younger generations), scored the first goal in the 55th minute and won a penalty three minutes later that Jugovic, with his usual calm, put in the back of the net. Lazio needed just one more goal and had half an hour to get it, but why wait? Milan disappeared from the pitch and Lazio were unstoppable. Gigi Casiraghi hit the woodwork before Nesta made it 3-1. Lazio triumphed. Almost all Lazio fans cried tears of joy. Finally, a trophy after so many years of pain.
Lazio also managed to reach the final of the UEFA Cup but the team was too tired and they lost 3-0 to Inter in Paris.
In 1998 Lazio entered the stock exchange, the first Italian club to do so. It was a major change in Italian football.
The 1998-99 season began with two coups: the signing of Christian Vieri from Atletico Madrid and the winning of the Super Coppa in Turin with a last gasp goal by Sergio Conceicao. The former was a sign of how powerful Lazio had become internationally. Vieri had done very well in Spain and was sought by many contenders. But Cragnotti got there first.
The first part of the season was problematic. Vieri was out injured for quite some time and Alessandro Nesta had to recover from the injury he suffered during the World Cup. Lazio struggled and after ten games they were ninth. They then drew the derby but won in Turin against Juve when Nesta returned. Three consecutive wins took them to fifth place and then Vieri came back. The Biancocelesti won in Bologna and then beat leaders Fiorentina. By the end of the first half of the season they were second, same points as Parma and three behind Fiorentina. After a draw at Cagliari in February they had caught up with the Viola and took a solitary lead the next game with a win against Inter. Lazio were flying and by the end of March they had a five-point lead over the Viola. In the home game against Milan a Vieri goal was disallowed for offside. A controversial decision that would be one of the decisive moments of the season. In the next two games the Biancocelesti lost against Roma as well as Juventus and Milan was just one point behind. In the penultimate game Lazio had to play in Florence. Fiorentina was not interested in letting the Biancocelesti win and fought to death, not like the other teams that had faced Milan (including Juventus) in the more recent matches. Lazio fell behind, managed to draw with Vieri but the referee ignored a blatant penalty on Marcelo Salas and Milan overtook. In the last game Milan had no problem at Perugia and won the scudetto. The ship had sailed, just like in 1973.
They at least won the Cup Winners Cup. In the final in Birmingham against Real Mallorca, Lazio took the lead with a Vieri header but the Spaniards soon equalised. A spectacular goal in the second half by Pavel Nedved gave Lazio their first European trophy.
During the summer, Cragnotti surprisingly sold Vieri to Inter in exchange for loads of money plus Diego Simeone. The fans were perplexed, how are we going to stay competitive if we sell our best player?
Before the start of the campionato Lazio played Manchester United for the UEFA Super Cup and won it thanks to a Salas goal. The Biancocelesti were on top of the world, one of the strongest teams in Europe.
In the campionato Lazio started well and by the sixth game they took the solitary lead. Juventus caught up in the 10th game after the Biancocelesti lost the derby. A trio of teams (Lazio, Roma and Juventus) then led the Serie A for a few matches until Lazio pulled away in the 14th. It did not last long. A loss on a frozen Venice evening on January 5 gave Juventus the lead again. Roma had fallen behind. Lazio regained the top of the table after beating Bologna in the Centenary game, but two goalless draws in the next two games gave Juve a three-point lead. By the 26th game the deficit increased to nine points and it looked as if it was all over for the scudetto. But on March 25 Lazio won the derby and Juve lost in Milan. The Biancocelesti were at -6 but the next match was in Turin against Juventus. Thanks to a goal from Diego Simeone, the Juventus lead was reduced to three points. However, Florence looked as if it would be fatal again as Lazio drew 3-3 and Juventus won in Milan against Inter.
There were four games to go. Everybody thought it was all over but manager Sven Goran Eriksson tried to get the team to believe in the impossible. In the 32nd game of the season Lazio beat Venezia and Juventus lost at Verona. Two games to go, two points difference. Lazio beat Bologna away and Juventus were winning 1-0 against Parma. Towards the end of the match there was a corner for Parma. Marcio Amoroso crossed and Fabio Cannavaro equalised but the referee inexplicably disallowed it.
This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial scudetto a couple of years back when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. So, there was massive media pressure on the last two games of the season: Lazio-Reggina and Perugia-Juventus.
Perugia President Luciano Gaucci, ashamed of the lack of fighting spirit his team had shown against Milan in the last game of the previous season, stated that it would not be a walkover for Juventus. Lazio fans hoped for a draw and then to go to a playoff. And this is what was happening at the end of the first half. Lazio were winning 2-0 and it was still goalless in Perugia. But a massive storm had blown up over the Umbrian capital and the pitch was under water. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the waterlogged pitch, but no. There was a problem. If the game was abandoned they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match when Cannavaro’s goal was disallowed for no reason at all, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So, he insisted. When they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal condition, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than it should have. In the 50th minute Alessandro Calori scored for Perugia. Juve did not manage to equalise and Lazio won their second scudetto.
A few days later Lazio, who had won the first leg 2-1, drew 0-0 with Inter in the second leg of the Coppa Italia and got the double. An amazing season with just one flaw. Despite going in as favourites, in the Champions League they were eliminated by Valencia in the quarter finals. But the season was almost perfect so in the end the other wins made it a marvellous one.
In the summer Cragnotti bought Claudio Lopez, Angelo Peruzzi and Hernan Crespo. The season started well with victory in the Super Coppa against Inter but in campionato by the end of the year they were fourth with 21 points, way off Roma who were leading the Serie A eight points ahead. There had been a lot of problems. This first issue was that Sven-Goran Eriksson had signed a contract with the English FA to manage England starting from the summer of 2001. This meant that it was going to be his last year with Lazio. This created a negative psychological situation in the team, uncertain of what would happen in the future. Secondly, Crespo got injured early on and he was taking his time in getting back into form. Thirdly, the team was badly missing a right-winger since Attilio Lombardo was past his prime and Dejan Stankovic was fulfilling the task rather reluctantly. Fourthly, Claudio Lopez, Lazio’s star summer signing, got injured early on in the season and would be out for most of the year. There was still optimism but in the first game of the new year Lazio lost at home and Eriksson, realising that he might be the problem, resigned. The team was given to Dino Zoff who stepped down as President to become head coach. In January Lazio finally bought Karel Poborsky and Lucas Castroman to fill the void created by the sale of Conçeicao.
In campionato once Zoff arrived things improved and Lazio with three games to go were second behind Roma but five points behind. The Giallorossi were tiring but Lazio threw away a game against Inter where they had 100 chances to score their second goal but the Nerazzurri then equalised in injury time. If Lazio had won they would have been only three points behind.
Coming into the final game, Roma were top, Juventus two points behind and Lazio three. In the last game Roma had to face Parma who decided not to play and allowed the Giallorossi to win their third scudetto. At that point the Biancocelesti, who were winning at Lecce, threw in the towel and lost the game.
In the Champions League Lazio managed to go through to the second group phase but were eliminated by Real Madrid and Leeds United. In Coppa Italia, the Biancocelesti were beaten by Udinese in the quarterfinals.
In the summer Cragnotti sold Juan Sebastian Veron to Manchester United and Pavel Nedved to Juventus. He needed a coup and as a consequence Lazio signed Gaizka Mendieta, considered to be one of the best European players.
Lazio’s start to 2001-02 was terrible and President Sergio Cragnotti sacked Zoff and called Alberto Zaccheroni to take his place, much to the majority's bewilderment.
For his first game in charge Lazio went to Milan away but four injuries during the game made things rather complicated. Furthermore, Mendieta was the shadow of the player he was. As a consequence, Zaccheroni had to rely on the players’ ability to create something on the pitch, just like Zoff had done and at times it worked, but when it didn’t Lazio were just plain awful. The physical preparation had been dismal and this explained why there were so many injuries during the course of the season. But the situation improved after losing the derby. Five consecutive wins took Lazio back up to fourth place, just three points behind Roma and Chievo, joint second. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were seventh but with one game in hand. They were however out of the Champions League despite opponents who were not all that irresistible.
Lazio continued to play terribly and remained in seventh place. The second derby of the season was one of the lowest points in Lazio's history. Zaccheroni decided on a completely illogical formation and the Biancocelesti lost 5-1. From then on, Lazio started playing better and with two games to go Lazio were fifth, just one point behind Chievo in fourth place. A Champions League qualification was still possible. But at Bologna the old Lazio reappeared, they played horribly and lost.
The last game of the season was against Inter. The table read: Inter 69, Juventus 68, Roma 67, Milan 52, Bologna 52, Chievo 51, Lazio 50. The games to be played were Lazio-Inter, Udinese-Juventus, Torino-Roma, Brescia-Bologna, Chievo-Atalanta.
Inter needed to win to conquer the Scudetto but if Lazio had beaten Inter and Juventus drawn at Udine then Roma would have a strong possibility of becoming champions. For the Lazio fans this would have been a fate worse than death, hence the entire stadium was supporting Inter when the game began.
Juventus scored two goals in the first ten minutes so the game in Udine was virtually over. When Inter scored with Christian Vieri in the 12th minute, the game in Rome was also considered over. But then Lazio took advantage of an Inter defensive blunder and equalised. The draw only lasted four minutes as Gigi Di Biagio scored Inter’s second. But towards the end of the first half, a huge defensive mess up allowed Lazio to equalise again.
At the end of the first halves Bologna, Roma, Inter and Lazio were drawing, Milan and Juventus winning. The table now read Juventus 71, Inter 70, Roma 68, Milan 55, Bologna 53, Chievo 52, Lazio 51.
In the beginning of the second half Lazio smelt blood and decided to give it all, Inter collapsed psychologically. Lazio went ahead and the Neroazzuri did not have the strength to fight back and even conceded a fourth goal. Roma beat Torino and overtook Inter, Bologna collapsed and Chievo won, coming from behind. Final table: Juventus 71, Roma 70, Inter 69, Milan 55, Chievo 54, Lazio 53. The Biancocelesti managed to get a UEFA Cup qualification so the season was partially saved. But Zaccheroni’s reign had been a bad one so he was sacked and replaced by Roberto Mancini.
The entrepreneurial downfall
In 1994 Cragnotti acquired the majority share of Cirio, a major Italian food company. To give the new company a more international status, he bid for South African Del Monte Royal and entered the company with a 30,4% share. But this operation cost an enormous sum of money. In 1994 Cirio holding had a debt worth 20% of sales. By 2002 it had reached 160%, despite the fact that between 1998 and 2002 they had quadrupled. The problem was that Cragnotti’s plan would have raised sales in the medium run, but the debt with the banks was short term.
At this point the Cirio group issued a series of bonds reaching a figure of €1,125 billion over three years. These bonds, later called Cirio Bonds, were placed by some investment banks which assigned their ratings in a completely arbitrary way. The most controversial aspect was that there was no information prospectus for these bonds, so they could not be sold over the counter by soliciting public savings, but only upon explicit request from the customer.
In any case, the objective was to achieve a financial restructuring of the debt by extending the maturity of the loans. The effect obtained was only to shift the debt from the banks to the bondholders. At the end of 1999 the amount of debt was represented by 94% bank loans and 6% bonds. In 2002, however, the specific weight had become 28% and 72% respectively.
Cragnotti realised that the penny was about to drop and asked the banks for more time. His plan was to sell Bombril and other assets, but he needed more time. He thought that in another three years he could have solved the problem, but the banks had to extend the paying back of the bonds. They did not agree.
In November 2002 it became clear that the funds necessary to pay the bondholders would not be found in any way. Default was imminent and Cirio shares were suspended from stock exchange trading. On November 7, 2002, the English Trustee Law Debenture declared that the bond issued by Cirio Finance Luxembourg which had expired on November 3 would not be reimbursed. Banca di Roma had no intention of helping Cragnotti out and Cirio went bankrupt.
Cragnotti was forced to leave and put all of his assets in the hands of the banks, including Lazio. Ugo Longo was nominated as the new President.
In 2004 Cragnotti was arrested, accused of fraudulent bankruptcy. After many trials he was sentenced to five years and three months in 2021.
And Lazio?
Mancini was able to get Lazio back in the Champions League with a fourth-place finish in 2002-03. It was a good year and the Biancocelesti even reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia.
The new club tried to convince players to accept Lazio shares in exchange for unpaid wages, the so-called Baraldi Plan named after the CEO Luca Baraldi handpicked by Cesare Geronzi president of Capitalia (new name for Banca di Roma). He later became managing director. Nominated in January 2003 he resigned in October. Some players agreed with the new plan (such as Nesta), some didn’t.
There was a need to reduce costs so players with heavy wages left (Diego Simeone, Luca Marchegiani, Beppe Pancaro, Gaizka Mendieta).
The role of Baraldi as well as that of Robero Mancini are controversial. Where on one hand Baraldi actually did reduce the player wages by 25%, on the other he paid himself a very high fee plus bonuses for the objective reached. About 2 million euros of that bonus were later given back to Lazio following President Claudio Lotito denouncing that the objective of -25% was indeed a con, because where on one side the players got less money, on the other the board of directors got loads. Since Mancini was part of the Board, he was given a salary of €7 million, compared to the €2 million he was getting as manager. Not the right moment to raise your salary especially as you asked your players to reduce theirs. This fact de facto destroyed the relationship between manager and players. Mancini, unknown to most, had already had an agreement to go to Inter and tried to convince some of his players to go with him.
Baraldi also forgot to pay taxes on the players’ salaries. As Cragnotti pointed out in his autobiography, the debt with the Italian fisco (tax collectors) was 67.5 million euros on December 31 2002. This went up to 118 million in by June 30 and over 500 million by June 2004.
On July 19, the banks sold Lazio to Claudio Lotito. The club was a lot worse off than when Cragnotti left it in 2003.
What happened to Cragnotti?
Cragnotti became a consultant for various firms. He never went back to watch Lazio, perhaps afraid to cause a stir. He did return to the Olimpico for the “Di padre in Figlio” event, a match played between old Biancoceleste glories and received a standing ovation. He was the most successful Lazio President after all. But he took risks and lost. He bought many great players but also made the tragic mistake of signing Gaizka Mendieta which was a terrible mistake. Firstly, he was way too expensive, 89 billion lire (45 million euros of 2001), secondly, he was neither Veron nor Nedved, thirdly, it looked like he was signed to appease the critics. If one thinks that the club, in order to pay back the debt, gave Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi to Valencia in 2004….
In the end he got overconfident with these operations, both at Lazio and with his group. And because of this Lazio are now in the hands of Claudio Lotito.
Sources
Sergio Cragnotti (with Fabrizio Pennacchia). Un calcio al cuore. Fazi Editore, 2006.
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