A heated exchange followed up yesterday’s game between Lazio and Torino, as Ciro Immobile accused the opposing owner Urbano Cairo of insulting him for playing with too much determination. The striker missed a penalty kick in the final minutes.
The forward posted on Instagram: “Everybody knows who Ciro Immobile is, on and especially off the pitch. I can accept the criticism as a player, but not the personal offenses, especially if coming from an executive. At the end of the match, Cairo came into our locker room and started sounding off on him, saying that I performed like a man possessed. He attacked me also for the first game, saying that I played while I had COVID.”
“I would never stop thanking him for giving him an opportunity at Torino, but I can not overlook this incident that goes beyond the sport. I am a person that respects the rules and the principles of loyalty, and I can not tolerate affronts that defame me.”
The Torino owner responded this morning: “I know who he is. He joined Torino a few years back after a disappointing season at Genoa in order to bounce back. Gian Piero Ventura trusted him, and he did well with us. I thought he would stay another season, instead, he did everything he could to move to Borussia Dortmund. He was underwhelming, and they loaned him to Sevilla. He did not do well there either, and he asked me to return. I agreed because I was attached to me.”
“He was not exactly superb in the second half of that campaign, but I wanted to buy him out anyway. On the other hand, Immobile instructed his agent to tell me that he could not stay for personal reasons, without speaking to me directly. At that point, I understood what kind of person he is.”