FLORENCE, Italy — Rocco Commisso, reported owner of Italian soccer club Fiorentina and chairman of New York-based Mediacom Communications, has died. He was 76 years old.
Fiorentina and Mediacom announced Commisso’s death early Saturday without providing a cause.
“After a long period of medical treatment, our beloved president left us and today we all mourn his passing,” Fiorentina said. “His love for Fiorentina was the greatest gift he gave himself.”
After building Mediacom into one of the largest cable television companies in the United States, Commisso bought Fiorentina in 2019 and became known for speaking out against Italian bureaucracy and the failure to build new stadiums.
Commisso was born in Calabria and immigrated to the United States at age 12.
He also owned the New York Cosmos and played football at Columbia University, the Ivy League school he continued to support philanthropically. The university’s football stadium is named after him.
The Cosmos called Commisso “a passionate leader who dedicated his life to soccer and the future of sports in this country.”
“Rocco fought for what was best for American soccer, believing in the development of the game, the importance of community and the power of clubs to inspire the next generation,” the New York club said on X.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino also paid tribute to Commisso.
“I am saddened to learn of the passing of Rocco Commisso, the president of Fiorentina, who dedicated his life to our wonderful sport,” Infantino wrote on Instagram. “When I met him, he spoke to me about his players as if he were his children, about his club as a part of himself. My deepest condolences to his family, his friends and all those who knew him and worked with him. A big one.”
At Fiorentina, Commisso celebrated reaching the Conference League final in 2023 and 2024.
But the team has struggled this season and is currently in the Serie A relegation zone.
Commisso is survived by his wife Catherine and his two children, Giuseppe and Marisa.
Source | domain www.espn.com
