Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso renewed his attack on the media in Italy, insisting he received ‘an avalanche of support’ and blasting La Gazzetta dello Sport for using ‘insulting Italian-American stereotypes.’
Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso renewed his attack on the media in Italy, insisting he received ‘an avalanche of support’ and blasting La Gazzetta dello Sport for using ‘insulting Italian-American stereotypes.’
His fiery press conference on Friday sparked a furious reaction from the media, as press unions released a joint statement condemning his attitude, comparing it to that of an “authoritarian regime.”
Considering the backlash, particularly to the accusations a newspaper was writing negative stories about the Viola because their owner is Torino President Urbano Cairo, Commisso released a new video this afternoon with a much calmer tone.
“The staff were all proud of what I did yesterday and I saw messages from the fans, who should be proud that all of Italy is behind us in this warning to the press that they must do things right,” said Commisso.
“I don’t mean not to criticise, that’s not it, just to do things right and not insult people. There was an avalanche of support for what I said yesterday.
“Everyone sees the work we’ve put in here. The results might not be perfect or what we wanted, but the work has been done.
“I did expect the union of journalists to respond the way that they did. Yesterday they released this statement, but what I said was that when people insult my family, my name and what I represent, I won’t stand for it.
“They have the right to criticise and I have the right to defend myself. I saw the guy who co-signed the statement and he was on TV yesterday saying that he’d never seen any reporters in Florence criticise Rocco Commisso. He didn’t see me referred to as Benito Rocco? He didn’t see me called the rich uncle from America? If he hasn’t, then how can he represent journalists?
“When you insult my father, who was a hero in the war, I will not let you get away with that.”
Rocco Commisso’s middle name is Benito and his father was a prisoner of war in Africa during WWII.
Commisso then held up today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, another of the newspapers owned by Torino President Cairo.
“This article was released by Andrea Di Caro, a head piece, in which they called me an American gangster. They called me Don Rocco, compared me to The Godfather and someone in a Coppola or Scorcese movie. Is this where journalism is in Italy? That doesn’t show everything I’ve done in my life in America, battling against stereotypes of Italians in America?
“They should be ashamed to write an article like this, insulting the Italians who live in North America. It’s humiliating for those of us who worked so hard in America for the rights of Italian-Americans to see this written in a newspaper that is read not just in Italy, but also in America.”