Ferrari on Fiorentina mistakes and stadium chaos

Fiorentina director Alessandro Ferrari admits ‘we all got it wrong’ with Stefano Pioli, but is threatening to pull out of the Stadio Artemio Franchi project unless there is a deal by December.

The Viola have had a disastrous start to the season, culminating in the dismissal of coach Pioli after failing to win any of the first 10 Serie A games, leaving them rock bottom of the table.

“We were all convinced this was the best choice, but something did not work,” Ferrari told Repubblica and La Nazione newspapers.

“We all got it wrong, the club, the players, and Pioli. Perhaps the biggest mistake was creating excessive expectations, when we should’ve taken it one step at a time. We’ve got to press the reset button, transmit confidence and positivity, and if possible a bit of enthusiasm.

“We hired Paolo Vanoli because we liked his conviction, he knows the atmosphere and has already won here. We’ve got to win back the trust of the people.”

Fiorentina have been playing in a half-empty stadium all season because of restructuring works at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but the project has been mired in chaos.

While Inter and Milan finally got the all clear to buy the land around San Siro and build their own arena, the Viola saw their attempts scuppered by the local authorities.

According to Ferrari, the situation could get a lot worse too.

“We are the ones who would benefit from a new stadium, but we are not even involved in the project. We don’t agree on many things that the council are doing, we even went to court, but the local authorities went ahead with their own ideas and Fiorentina are losing a lot of money over it.

“That’s not to mention the delays in getting the work done. We saw that at San Siro, with different investment, it will be knocked down to build a new 80,000-seater arena with the clubs responsible for the project.

“We are still open to evaluating anything the council wants to show us, but unlike a few months ago, there is the real risk now that Fiorentina will be cut out of the project entirely. This is what will happen if we don’t reach an agreement by December.”

The Stadio Franchi is meant to be one of the five venues put forward by Italy when co-hosting the EURO 2032 tournament, but the delays are putting that in serious doubt.

“UEFA want to see progress in the work, to have guarantees that the dates agreed will be respected. Unfortunately, Fiorentina have no say in it. All we can do is wait and hope,” added Ferrari.