The news was given by the family from the USA with a press release, through the Viola club website: he was 76 years old
Rocco Commisso, the owner of Fiorentina, left for the United States during the night. A note from the club announced this: “With great pain and sadness the Commisso family with his wife Catherine, his children Giuseppe and Marisa and his sisters Italia and Raffaelina, announce the passing of President Rocco B. Commisso. After a prolonged period of treatment, our beloved President left us and today we all mourn his passing”. News that shocks Florence and the entire purple world. It was known that he was not well, but the city’s hope was to see him again soon in Florence. The team, managers and fans were waiting for him, who have always recognized in him an exceptional charisma, as well as extraordinary entrepreneurial skills.
the story of Rocco Commisso
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Born in Calabria in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, 25 November 1949, he had just turned 76. As a child he moved with his family to the United States and then founded, after graduation, Mediacom, a company that has become a global giant in cable systems. According to Forbes, his assets amounted to 8 billion dollars as of 8 October 2023. A football lover, he had bought the New York Cosmos in 2017, but the big leap was the purchase of Fiorentina on 6 June 2019. He dreamed of a trophy, never lifted but came close to at least twice in the Conference League and reaching a Coppa Italia final. Last summer he invested more than 92 million on the market to try to give the fans some satisfaction in the centenary year and instead he left just when the team is in the bottom of the rankings.
commisso, purple pride park
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His great pride has always been the Viola Park which he wanted to give to Florence and inaugurated in the summer of 2024. Defined as “the home of Fiorentina” and which will live forever bearing his name. A sign of the affection and desire to look to the future of young people and football. Precisely ‘his’ boys have won youth trophies. Viola Park is over 20 hectares, among the largest and most modern in Europe, with 12 training fields, medical facilities, gyms and spaces for the youth sector and the women’s team. Commisso spent around 120 million euros to make it happen.
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