Lazio boss Lotito’s COVID-19 breach ban slashed to two months

Lazio president Claudio Lotito’s ban for breaking Covid-19 regulations has been cut from a year to two months, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Tuesday, as the Serie A club received reduced punishments on appeal.

Lotito, 64, had initially been banned for seven months in March following an FIGC investigation of positive tests at the club in October and November last year.

In April Lotito’s suspension was then increased to 12 months following an initial appeal before being slashed on Tuesday.

Two club doctors saw their year-long bans cut to five months on Tuesday while the club has been fined 50,000 euros ($58,274), a quarter of the sum they were ordered to pay in April.

Lazio were accused of failing to alert local health authorities when eight staff tested positive in late October, on the eve of a Champions League match in Bruges, and then in November, before another Champions League match in Saint Petersburg.

At least one Lazio player was positive in UEFA tests but negative in Serie A tests in the same period.

The FIGC had also criticised Lazio for “not having prevented” three players from taking part in a squad training session on November 3, despite positive tests the day before.

Lazio were also accused of fielding players in Serie A who should have been in mandatory 10-day isolation in the absence of symptoms.

Tuesday’s ruling means Lotito will not lose his role as an FIGC councillor, a position that he would have had to give up had the 12-month ban stood.

The FIGC does not allow anyone who has racked up more than a year’s worth of bans over a period of a decade to be a councillor, and Lotito had been banned for two months in 2012 for violation of transfer rules.