Fiorentina have released a statement absolving Inter Milan of any blame regarding rumours of Viola president Rocco Commisso had sought to confront away players at the end of the weekend’s defeat.
Such was the accusations that an investigation was held, though nothing was discovered.
After initially accusing Inter and president Steven Zhang of spreading the rumours, Fiorentina announced: “ACF Fiorentina can confirm that Inter president Steven Zhang has spoken to Fiorentina general manager Giuseppe Barone.
“The Nerazzurri president clarified that neither he nor any other club directors ever claimed – at any time or to any individual – what was published by some newspapers on Saturday evening after the Fiorentina v Inter match. These reports alleged that president Rocco Commisso behaved in an aggressive and intimidating manner in the away dressing room. This never took place.
“Fiorentina has taken note of what president Zhang said and would like to highlight that some members of the press are quick to portray president Rocco Commisso in a bad light without carrying out due and diligent checks on the reliability of their information and sources, publicly attributing bad behaviour to Fiorentina’s president which has no factual grounding .
“Sadly once again we are left to rue the fact that the club and its fans have fallen victim to inaccurate reporting by certain members of the media, who reported plainly false information which has caused serious damage to the image of the club and the president.
“We reiterate that Fiorentina has the greatest respect for journalists and their work and expects this to be reciprocated with the club and its employees by not publishing unverified stories which have no basis in reality.”
