Two Decades of Frustration Boil Over as Ultras Boycott Games and a League Rule Offers a Way OutFootball for most Italians is like breathing; it is embedded in their culture from the start. Now, for someone to mess with this passion can be dangerous. Right now SS Lazio is passing through a difficult moment between the fans and the owner of the club, Claudio Lotito.Fans and Ultras, the “hardcore” fans, are boycotting the games as a protest against the president. The Stadio Olimpico, Lazio and Roma’s home, has a capacity of 70,634 spectators, but these walls have not seen the light blue fan color in a while. The players are still with their heads in the game, but there are no fans inside to celebrate with them. The question is: how can a team keep going if the fans are unhappy? First of all, the problem didn’t start in 2024, or in the 2025 boycott, or even this season; Lazio fans have been unsatisfied with Lotito for a long time, specifically 20 years. Claudio Lotito is an Italian senator and entrepreneur who acquired SS Lazio in 2004, when the team was going through financial difficulties. As a team owner, he is expected to defend Lazio’s best interests and try his best to make the team thrive, but this is not what is happening. The strong feelings the fans have towards Lotito are not only related to the fans’ opinions about him as a person but also to the choices Lotito made as president, such as selling the team’s star players and fan favourites — Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic — and the fact that he did not purchase any other player to replace these stars, leaving the team at a disadvantage. This is a management problem. To own a football team, it is important to understand one thing: it is a business, but it is directly connected to the fan base. One Roma fan, whom we will call Luca, shared his opinion on what is happening with his team’s rival: “Lazio’s ownership has been making very questionable investment decisions in the last decade if not more, and is treating the club as a business (…) but the football industry is different. A club’s value is enormous only because fans exist.” The consequences of having a “bad” business and making “poor” choices are hitting Lotito exactly where it hurts the most, in his pocket. In addition, to make the situation even worse, during the summer Lotito acquired another football team, SS Reggina, which is currently in Serie D struggling with financial problems. But one rule might be the light at the end of the tunnel for Lazio fans. Following FIGC (Italian Football Federation) regulations, Lotito cannot own two clubs if Reggina comes up to Serie C; if this happens, he will be forced to sell one of the two teams. For Lazio fans, this might be the alternative to “get rid of” Lotito. Also, this is not the first time Lotito and Lazio are in this situation. Lotito owned both Lazio and Salernitana for over a decade, bringing Salernitana from Serie D to Serie A, and when this happened in the 2021-22 season, he was forced to sell Salernitana — that was when FIGC changed the regulation about owning more than one professional club in the Italian top divisions (Serie A, B and C), a rule that took effect in 2024-25. For the Lazio fans, this is just adding to the fight against Lotito. “The purchase of Reggina, if not followed by the sale of Lazio, will do nothing but worsen the situation, because he will use Lazio’s money to cover all of Reggina’s expenses, exactly as he did with Salernitana,” said one Lazio ultra, whom we will call Marco. The love of the fans for Lazio is being tested; in the end, they are what keeps the team going. The fact that they are not in the stadium doesn’t change their passion, because they are still celebrating in the streets and around the stadium, just not going inside. The relationship between fans and organizations has always been a hard one; it is not the first time this has happened to a football team, and it will certainly not be the last, not in Italy and not in the whole world. But one question should be asked of team organizations: what is a team without fans?

Football for most Italians is like breathing; it is embedded in their culture from the start. Now, for someone to mess with this passion can be dangerous. Right now SS Lazio is passing through a difficult moment between the fans and the owner of the club, Claudio Lotito. Fans and Ultras, the “hardcore” fans, are boycotting the games as a protest against the president. The Stadio Olimpico, Lazio and Roma’s home, has a capacity of 70,634 spectators, but these walls have not seen the light blue fan color in a while. The players are still with their heads in the game, but there are no fans inside to celebrate with them. The question is: how can a team keep going if the fans are unhappy? First of all, the problem didn’t start in 2024, or in the 2025 boycott, or even this season; Lazio fans have been unsatisfied with Lotito for a long time, specifically 20 years. Claudio Lotito is an Italian senator and entrepreneur who acquired SS Lazio in 2004, when the team was going through financial difficulties. As a team owner, he is expected to defend Lazio’s best interests and try his best to make the team thrive, but this is not what is happening. The strong feelings the fans have towards Lotito are not only related to the fans’ opinions about him as a person but also to the choices Lotito made as president, such as selling the team’s star players and fan favourites — Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic — and the fact that he did not purchase any other player to replace these stars, leaving the team at a disadvantage. This is a management problem. To own a football team, it is important to understand one thing: it is a business, but it is directly connected to the fan base. One Roma fan, whom we will call Luca, shared his opinion on what is happening with his team’s rival: “Lazio’s ownership has been making very questionable investment decisions in the last decade if not more, and is treating the club as a business (…) but the football industry is different. A club’s value is enormous only because fans exist.” The consequences of having a “bad” business and making “poor” choices are hitting Lotito exactly where it hurts the most, in his pocket. In addition, to make the situation even worse, during the summer Lotito acquired another football team, SS Reggina, which is currently in Serie D struggling with financial problems. But one rule might be the light at the end of the tunnel for Lazio fans. Following FIGC (Italian Football Federation) regulations, Lotito cannot own two clubs if Reggina comes up to Serie C; if this happens, he will be forced to sell one of the two teams. For Lazio fans, this might be the alternative to “get rid of” Lotito. Also, this is not the first time Lotito and Lazio are in this situation. Lotito owned both Lazio and Salernitana for over a decade, bringing Salernitana from Serie D to Serie A, and when this happened in the 2021-22 season, he was forced to sell Salernitana — that was when FIGC changed the regulation about owning more than one professional club in the Italian top divisions (Serie A, B and C), a rule that took effect in 2024-25. For the Lazio fans, this is just adding to the fight against Lotito. “The purchase of Reggina, if not followed by the sale of Lazio, will do nothing but worsen the situation, because he will use Lazio’s money to cover all of Reggina’s expenses, exactly as he did with Salernitana,” said one Lazio ultra, whom we will call Marco. The love of the fans for Lazio is being tested; in the end, they are what keeps the team going. The fact that they are not in the stadium doesn’t change their passion, because they are still celebrating in the streets and around the stadium, just not going inside. The relationship between fans and organizations has always been a hard one; it is not the first time this has happened to a football team, and it will certainly not be the last, not in Italy and not in the whole world. But one question should be asked of team organizations: what is a team without fans?