Rocca: “Lotito? No solidarity whatsoever. His problem is his attitude. He wanted to be like Berlusconi but he failed.”

“Conspiracies? No, Lotito’s problem is his attitude and his fundamental inability to communicate with the fans.” Francesco Rocca, president of the Lazio region, does not mince his words and is breathing fire over the already explosive affair involving Lazio Football Club and its president, Forza Italia senator Claudio Lotito. It was reported two days ago that the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Mauro Masi, Francesco Maiolini and Luigi Bisignani for market manipulation, alleging a campaign of fake news and pressure to force the club to sell Lazio and influence its share price on the stock exchange. The investigation also aims to establish whether there was a single coordinating force behind the actions against the president.

Over the last forty-eight hours, no one in the Italian centre-right has commented. Silence has reigned in the corridors of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. And it is to Il Foglio that Governor Rocca wishes to entrust a comment on the matter. He speaks as a politician and as a supporter: “I don’t mince my words, but I’m not harbouring any ulterior motives either. As for the investigation, we must wait for the judiciary and the inquiries. Only they are tasked with ascertaining what happened and how much of it is true.” Does he wish to express solidarity with the senator? “Even in that case, I’ll wait for the inquiries: if it all turns out to be a hoax, why should I show him solidarity?”

The key figures in the investigations being carried out by Rome’s public prosecutors are Mauro Masi, chairman of Banca del Fucino, Francesco Maiolini, chief executive of the same bank, and the lobbyist Luigi Bisignani. The prosecution is working on the theory of a complex but effective plot to pressure Lotito into selling Lazio, against the backdrop of the largest and most entrenched protests currently taking place between the team’s fan base and the club’s board of directors. “I don’t think Masi and Maiolini are involved in this affair. I’ve known them for a long time. As for Bisignani, I only met him recently, at the demonstration on 2 July, but I feel the same way about him,” says Rocca. He defends those under investigation.

He recalls the last major event that pitted the fans against Lotito – the demonstration at Ponte Milvio, which the governor also attended: “I’d go back there, no ifs or buts,” he reiterates. “And I’ll tell you this: if there were any truth to this story – which I hope and am sure there isn’t – it would be part of the rift between the supporters and the chairman. Not the other way round. Nobody is capable of manipulating 40–50,000 people.”

For the governor, the dissent “goes back a long way”. It is a story which, he repeats, has to do with the stance a president ought to take. “He has expressed himself poorly and in a vulgar manner on several occasions; he has addressed the fans by calling them ‘arseholes’. He is a sports executive; he is a senator. This is not the way to behave. We’re all exhausted – all of us fans.” The governor added that the incident also has electoral implications.

Just as was the case with the referendum (we all remember the billboards reading ‘Forza Italia: Lazio voters would vote “yes” but are voting “no”! Thank Lotito, your party’s senator’), centre-right voters in Lazio have long been boycotting the coalition precisely because of this Forza Italia senator. “Lotito was put forward as a candidate not because he was an expert in economics or geopolitics. I don’t think he writes complex analyses for Limes. He was nominated because he was president of Lazio!”, Rocca retorts. In his view, “President Berlusconi probably thought there was a consensus, something Berlusconi managed to maintain throughout his entire presidency of AC Milan”. But the comparison ends there: “Lotito may have wanted to emulate him, but let’s just say he didn’t succeed… Once again: it comes down to attitude. I have never heard President Berlusconi answer the phone to fans and insult them. You have to rise above such things. What sort of behaviour is that?”