Ugo Longo was born in Caltanissetta, in Sicily, on January 1, 1941. His father Carmelo was the mayor of the town, whose name derives from the Arabic for "Qal'at an-nisā", the women's castle, from 1952 to 1956.
In 1959 Ugo Longo moved to Rome and started to work as a lawyer. He was involved with several important cases such as: the Calcio scommesse (betting scandal in Italian football in 1980), the Borghese coup (an attempted right wing coup d’état in 1970), the SISDE scandal (illegal funds to the secret services) and the "Mani pulite" cases (the vast investigation into illegal payoffs between politicians and the entrepreneurial world in the early 1990's).
In 1996 he started to work for CONI (Italian Olympic Committee) in the anti-doping setup. He was first deputy and then in 1997 became head. He later resigned claiming the organisation lacked the funding to tackle the doping problem efficiently.
His contact with sport was also due to the fact that he was Sergio Cragnotti and his family's lawyer. Sergio Cragnotti became Lazio president in 1992. Longo was therefore obviously involved with Lazio too. In 1998 he oversaw Lazio's entrance onto the stock market as a joint-stock company.
In 1999 Longo became a member of Lazio's board of directors.
By 2002 Cragnotti was in serious financial difficulty. The Roman entrepreneur and his Cirio group were forced to leave Lazio.
In January 2003 Ugo Longo was nominated "pro tempore" 33rd president of Lazio’s history. The club had huge debts and even had problems paying the players wages. Lazio became a public company and Longo promoted a capital increase of 120 million Euros. Meanwhile the "Lazionista" project took shape. This involved small shareholders putting money into the club. It is calculated that at least 5,000 Lazio families dipped into their savings to help out their club. The money raised allowed Lazio to be able to play the 2003-2004 Serie A. Most of the players had also done their part by diluting their wages over a longer contractual period. Some players such as Alessandro Nesta, who had been forced to leave Lazio for financial reasons, waved off some of their overdue wages.
On the pitch things went surprisingly well under Roberto Mancini and Lazio finished 4th, qualifying for the Champions League. They also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia.
In January 2004 Lazio made another capital increase and the small shareholders of Lazionista contributed again. Meanwhile on the field Lazio, still led by Mancini, managed to win silverware by defeating Juventus and triumphing in the Coppa Italia.
On July 20, 2004 Claudio Lotito took over as president of Lazio and Longo stepped down. Another chapter in Lazio's history began
Longo had done a good job at Lazio in times of extremely serious financial difficulties. He was a very popular character at Lazio. He was always positive, approachable and willing to give his time to the Lazio local media. However bad the situation was, he reassured the Lazio fans, always with a smile on his face, that things would turn out alright.
He kept the Lazio world together with a sense of unity in uncertain times. Initiatives such as "Maglia Day", on October 5 2003 at Lazio-Chievo, a celebration of Lazio's shirts throughout their history, was an example of the attempt to keep the sense of belonging strong.
He however stayed in the Lazio world as a lawyer. He was particularly active in 2006 when the Calciopoli scandal broke out. He was extremely respected in his profession.
Ugo Longo died on March 14, 2009 after a long illness. His coffin was covered by a Lazio flag.
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