Since Claudio Lotito became president and owner of Lazio in July 2004, the club’s achievements appear to be relatively successful. Lazio have won six major trophies since the entrepreneur brought the club and saved them from bankruptcy. So why has season tickets for the 26/27 season taken a 84% decline. Leaving the Stadio Olimpico with its 70,000 capacity hosting matches with a lower average attendance than Mansfield Town.
There has been a boycott at Lazio. Predominately orchestrated by the horde of ultras within the Curva Nord (North Curve) section of the stadium, these loyal fans have decided that they have had enough with the current ownership. There have been a multitude of reasons why attendances at the Stadio Olimpico have been as low as 2,000 when they hosted Sassuolo on 9th March 2026.
The first is success. Initially the six trophies won under Lotito’s presidency sounds acceptable but under further inspection three of those trophies were the Coppa Italia (08/09, 12/13, 18/19) with the other three being the Supercoppa Italiana (09, 17, 19). Much like the Community Shield, the Suppercoppa Italiana is a trophy depending on whom you ask. Of course the one which all fans want is Serie A. Lotito’s reign has produced only one second place finish and two third place finishes, averaging a league position of 7th place. Since Juventus’ nine year title domination came to an end in 2019/20, Internazionale, Milan and Napoli have won the Scudetto. Lazio fans believe that they are not in this open race and are missing their opportunity to win their third title. With no current dominant team in Serie A now is the opportunity for Lazio to strive for success, however Lotito’s ambition is not reflective.
Claudio Lotito is a busy man, he has been an Italian senator since 2022 and is an owner of other Italian clubs. In 2011 he purchased Serie D side Salernitana which he was forced to sell when the club were promoted to Serie A. This was due to conflict of interest laws regarding multi-club ownerships. Although this demonstrates that Lotito can be a highly successful club owner. The Italian FA has since changed these laws, so Lotito this year purchased AS Reggina looking to perform the same trick twice. Understandably the Lazio faithful have questioned his priorities and true ambitions for the club.
Further concerns have stemmed from the lack of competitive and exciting transfers. In an open letter found on change.org from the Laziali towards the owner it stated “These are years in which we have not signed a football player to stir the heart of fans young and old.” Nostalgia tends to heavily favour Serie A but in recent years the Lazio squad isn’t one to keep opponents laying awake at night. Aspirational leaders and maverick players at Lazio, such as the days of Nesta and Nedved feel long gone. Of course there has been the irreplaceable all-time goal scorer Ciro Immobile. Which asks the question how the four time Serie A top goalscorer never achieved more club success. A further look into this and their transfers across the past couple of decades produces some eyebrow raising concerns.
Incredibly the top seven most expensive signings at Lazio all came before 2003; Crespo, Mendieta, Veron, Vieri, Stam, Fiore & Lopez. It is no wonder that the open letter claimed the club is “denying fans the right to dream.” Whilst Serie A is not at the pinnacle of world football it once was, with the current financial climate it seems implausible that these transfer records still remain. Alternatively on the most expensive departures list there are recent and recognisable names such as Milnkovic-Savic, Anderson, Gila, Balde & Guendouzi.
With these tensions bubbling under the Roman pot, Lotito’s relationship with the fans finally caused the lid to blow. In the 1979 Derby della Capitale a Lazio fan, Vincenzo Paparelli, was killed by a flare fired from the Roma end. Lotito was accused of denying Paparelli’s niece a chance to walk on to the pitch during an event in November 2025. Whilst Lotito claims it was due to four people wanting to walk on with her and he just wanted her, the already fractured relationship changed to breaking point.
Whilst Lazio fans support for the club remains strong; friendlies, training sessions and away days are well attended. Their greatest strength is how united they have been with their boycott. Many clubs speak of voting with their feet but few have the courage to leave their home ground empty. It must be a painful experience for regular fans to sit at home and abandon their weekend routines when they know their team is playing in a soulless stadium. For the long term love of their club, they are willing to hurt for hopefully just a little bit.
