Italian American businessman Rocco
Commisso is set to buy Fiorentina from the Della Valle brothers,
sources said Tuesday.
Commisso, 69, who owns the US's fifth biggest cable TV
company and the New York Cosmos soccer team, on Tuesday met with
Diego and Andrea Della Valle in the Milan HQ of their Tod's shoe
empire.
Commisso was preceded by his right hand man Joe Barone.
Fiorentina President Mario Cognigni was also present at the
meeting.
Fiorentina, which was founded by a merger in August 1926, and
refounded in August 2002 following bankruptcy, have played at
the top level of Italian football for the majority of their
existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A seasons.
Last season they flirted with relegation and ended up 16th
after the Della Valles failed to lure to players to join Italy
striker Federico Chiesa.
Fiorentina has won two Italian Championships, in 1955-56 and
again in 1968-69, as well as six Coppa Italia trophies and one
Supercoppa Italiana. On the European stage, Fiorentina won the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960-61 and lost the final one year
later. They finished runners-up in the 1956-57 European Cup,
losing against Real Madrid, and also came close to winning the
1989-90 UEFA Cup, finishing as runners-up against Juventus.
Fiorentina is one of the fourteen European teams that have
played the finals in all three major continental competitions:
the Champions League (1956-1957, the first Italian team to reach
the final in the top continental competition), the UEFA Cup
Winners (1960-1961 and 1961-1962) and the UEFA Cup (1989-1990).
Since 1931, the club have played at the Stadio Artemio
Franchi, which currently has a capacity of 43,147. The stadium
has used several names over the years and has undergone several
renovations. Fiorentina are known widely by the nickname Viola,
a reference to their distinctive purple colours.
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