Lazio are joint top of Serie A with Inter after taking 25 points from nine matches. Their home games at the Stadio Olimpico have still been played in front of largely empty stands because of a total fan boycott linked to conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
League position and away backing
Lazio are level with Inter at the top of Serie A on 25 points from nine games. Their supporters have continued to travel in large numbers to away matches, including 10.000 at Sassuolo when Lazio won 6-2 on Tuesday.
Reports cited by Flashscore indicate the away support at Sassuolo was Lazio's largest single travelling away support in nearly 28 years.
Boycott at the Stadio Olimpico
Lazio's home matches are being played in a nearly deserted Stadio Olimpico because of a feud between supporters and Lotito that has lasted more than two decades. The Curva Nord organised a total home boycott.
Season ticket renewals fell from 30,000 to under 4,500, leaving the 70,000-capacity stadium nearly vacant during home matches. When Lazio played AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico in September, less than half the around 50,000 spectators who attended the same fixture last season were present.
Before the AC Milan match in September, fans said they intended “to watch the game in a pub or at home”.
Petition against Lotito
An open letter posted on Change.org in January accused Lotito of denying fans the right to dream and had more than 45,000 signatures. “It has been years, almost seven, since we lifted a trophy,” reads the petition, signed by more than 45,000.
The petition says: “These are years in which we have not signed a footballer to stir the heart of fans young and old.”
Embargo and start to the season
Lazio were placed under a transfer embargo for failing to meet liquidity requirements introduced by the Italian Football Federation over the summer. Flashscore says the transfer embargo prompted Lotito to offload Taty Castellanos and Mattéo Guendouzi in January, and Mario Gila, Alessio Romagnoli and Ivan Provedel in the summer.
Gennaro Gattuso arrived at Lazio less than three months after resigning as head coach of the Italian national team. Lazio began the season with a cup defeat to a Serie B club in August.
