{"id":947,"date":"2026-03-15T08:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T08:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/senza-categoria-en\/ugo-longo-the-guarantor-of-biancoceleste-continuity\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:14:34","slug":"ugo-longo-the-guarantor-of-biancoceleste-continuity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/history\/ugo-longo-the-guarantor-of-biancoceleste-continuity\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugo Longo: the guarantor of Biancoceleste continuity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Lazio&#8217;s history is marked by figures who have deeply influenced the club&#8217;s destiny. Some are celebrated, others forgotten, and still others intentionally overshadowed. Among these, <strong>Ugo Longo<\/strong> holds a special place: not for trophies or proclamations, but for performing the most difficult and least flashy act of all \u2014 <strong>saving Lazio from bankruptcy<\/strong> during one of the most dramatic moments in its history.<\/p>\n\n<p>Longo, a high-profile criminal lawyer, became president in January 2003, when the collapse of the Cirio group and Sergio Cragnotti&#8217;s exit left the club in a devastating economic crisis. Unpaid salaries, tax debts, and the concrete risk of failing to register for the next season: Lazio was on the verge of collapse.<\/p>\n\n<p>Why Ugo Longo was fundamental for Lazio<\/p>\n\n<p>His importance isn&#8217;t just an opinion: it&#8217;s a documented and recognized historical fact.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>1. He prevented the 2003 bankruptcy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Longo took charge of a club that was technically in shambles and managed to stabilize it through rigorous, transparent, and competent management.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He promoted a capital increase of <strong>\u20ac120 million<\/strong>, which was essential to ensure business continuity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He coordinated the entry of small shareholders, who through the <em>Lazionista<\/em> association raised over <strong>\u20ac1.5 million<\/strong> from more than 5,000 Lazio families.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Without these operations, Lazio would not have been able to register for the 2004\/2005 season. This is a historical point that is non-negotiable.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>2. He transformed Lazio into a public company<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>With the exit of the Cragnotti family, Longo led the transition toward a more open corporate model, less dependent on a single owner and more oriented toward sustainability.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>3. He defended Lazio even after his presidency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Despite leaving office in 2004, he continued to provide legal assistance to the club, including during the 2006 Calciopoli scandal.<\/p>\n\n<p>4<strong>. He is remembered with affection by those who lived through those years<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Lazio itself, in its official communications, continues to remember him as a central and respected figure.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Why calling him &#8220;that thing&#8221; is unacceptable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>During the conference on the Stadio Flaminio, current president (or manager) Claudio Lotito dismissed Ugo Longo as &#8220;coso&#8221; (&#8220;that thing&#8221;), an expression that is not only disrespectful: it is historically false.<\/p>\n\n<p>Reducing Longo to &#8220;that thing&#8221; means:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>erasing the role of the man who prevented Lazio&#8217;s disappearance<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>denying the dignity of a professional who put his reputation at the service of the club<\/strong>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>rewriting history for convenience<\/strong>, downplaying those who operated before the current management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>It&#8217;s not a matter of fandom or club politics: it&#8217;s a matter of historical truth and respect.<\/p>\n\n<p>Ugo Longo was not a passing president, nor a name to be forgotten. He was the <strong>ferryman<\/strong> who allowed Lazio to survive, to register for championships, and to continue existing as a professional club.<\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lazio&#8217;s history is marked by figures who have deeply influenced the club&#8217;s destiny. Some are celebrated, others forgotten, and still others intentionally overshadowed. Among these, Ugo Longo holds a special place: not for trophies or proclamations, but for performing the most difficult and least flashy act of all \u2014 saving Lazio from bankruptcy during one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-history"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions\/951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sslazio.world\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}