Rome, Lotito on the Riad 2030 sponsor: “I wouldn’t have done it”

Claudio Lotito, president of Lazio, seizes the opportunity to launch a dig at the Giallorossi’s rivals, entering into the controversy linked to the new main sponsor of Mourinho’s team, Riad 2030, which advertises the Saudi capital’s candidacy for the next Expo, for which is also in contention the eternal city. “Raggi’s (Virginia, the former mayor, ed.) is a really good idea, at this point we’ll put the Rome Expo on the shirt, I should think about it. That and also Spqr” declared the senator of Forza Italia at the “Foglio”.

“Does this seem normal to you?”

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“Excuse me, but if I understand correctly, they will put a reference to the city that competes with us for the Expo on the Roma shirt. Do you think this is normal? I don’t want to start a controversy with Roma, sponsors are useful to everyone, they bring money, but one must also ask what the purpose of that sponsor is” continued Lotito. The vote of the Bie (Bureau International des Expositions) which will award the event will take place on November 28. “A purpose that clashes with the interests of Rome and the ‘Italy. I say: a private company does as it wants, but since there is also a question of opportunity here, someone should have problems. Do you know how many times I have had the opportunity to make revenues that I felt were not suitable for, so to speak, being advertised because perhaps they clashed with some of our principles? – Lotito then added in the interview with the “Foglio” – But as we know, there are those who seek to maximize revenues and there are those who seek to combine the economic result with a message of values”. The sponsorship contract will earn Roma 5 million per season for three years. “I wouldn’t have done it, absolutely not. A private Saudi sponsor is one thing, for goodness sake we are not here to be moralists, but it is clear that this sponsorship has a specific purpose, here there is a risk of harming the collective interests and therefore those protects them should intervene. Do they prevent us from putting companies linked to betting companies as sponsors, without saying ‘bet, bet’, and then we allow something like this to be done on an international match like Expo?”.

gualtieri and rays

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Lotito then attacks the mayor Roberto Gualtieri who had allowed the Giallorossi to use the acronym Spqr (Senatus Populus Quirites Romani, or rather: “the Senate and the Roman People of the Quirites): “And now, it seems like a joke, instead of Spqr there will be Riad. I went to China and I wanted to use the image of the Colosseum and I had to ask for permission. Instead they got nothing, until yesterday they used a city brand for free. Tomorrow morning I’ll call Gualtieri and tell him that I’ll put Spqr on the shirt. Was the trademark not registered? Then we ask it!. Lotito had already criticized Gualtieri for the photo taken with Lukaku, suggesting that “he would have done better to first compensate the citizen whose car was ruined by Roma fans in Ciampino”. And on Raggi’s proposal, he concludes thus: “Lazio is always available to provide responses to collective interests. Deeds and not words. We do it by going to schools and hospitals, we do it with campaigns against racism and violence, we we can also do for the Expo, of course sponsorships are a delicate thing, because we are a listed company and we also have to be accountable to the shareholders, but we always try to combine collective interest and economic objectives therefore, we can think about it”.