The wake for Fiorentina's director general Joe Barone, who passed away yesterday at the age of 57 due to a heart attack, has been opened at the Viola Park in Florence. Since the early hours of the morning, many people have gathered in line to pay their last respects to the executive. The entire family was present, including his wife Camilla and their four children, as well as the purple team's president Rocco Commisso, who arrived in Italy a few hours ago. Flags were flown at half-mast at the sports center. Fans of the Curva Fiesole, through a statement released in these hours, have arranged to meet in the late afternoon to say goodbye to Joe Barone. The wake will remain open until 9:00 PM, while the funeral will be held in New York next week.
From Carlo Conti to Daniele De Rossi
Roma's coach Daniele De Rossi and the yellow-red executive Maurizio Lombardo, the host Carlo Conti, and the singer Marco Masini (both avid Fiorentina fans) also arrived in Florence, stopping to greet the director general's family and Fiorentina's president Rocco Commisso, who arrived from the USA this morning. In the afternoon, the president of Juve Gianluca Ferrero and the Bianconeri's DS Giuntoli, Napoli's owner De Laurentiis, Bologna's owner Saputo, Empoli's president Corsi, and Verona's president Setti also arrived.
The Team's Farewell
The team and coach Vincenzo Italiano, after a private greeting given immediately last night upon the arrival of the coffin, also went to the wake this morning. Among them, Milenkovic and Kayode, who were granted permission to leave their respective National teams' retreats for a few hours. The purple president Rocco Commisso spoke in front of all the Fiorentina players, including those of the youth and women's teams, in memory of Joe Barone: "Remember, Joe will always be by your side." The funeral will be held in New York next week: according to what the purple club has announced, the presence of the president of the Italian Football Federation Gabriele Gravina is confirmed, who is already in America following the Italian National team for friendlies against Venezuela and Ecuador.
Commisso's Speech
"Always remember him, Joe will always be part of Fiorentina, he is always by your side." Thus, with a voice broken by tears, Rocco Commisso remembered Barone, a friend, before even being the general director of Fiorentina. "Barone left everything and his family to come here, we made a great sports center - Commisso continued - He worked all day, we were in constant contact, we had also spoken on Sunday morning." "I can only thank the family for this," he concluded amid applause.
The Authorities Present
The Minister of Sports and Youth Policies, Andrea Abodi, and the president of the Serie A League, Lorenzo Casini, also wanted to pay their last respects to Fiorentina's general director Joe Barone, who passed away yesterday at 57. Among the attendees were also the executives of Torino, Udinese, Cagliari, and Salernitana, while others are announced for the afternoon. In the early afternoon, the Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella also arrived, who embraced the purple patron Rocco Commisso and then expressed his condolences and those of the municipal administration to the family members of Joe Barone.
The Memory of Beppe Marotta
"It's a sudden, very heavy loss, for a person who had great characteristics, great values. He was in love with his job, with this company he was making great. I do not hide that with him we had dialectical skirmishes on the assumption that we represented maybe different conceptions and so it is right that there is a conflict that is positive, critical, constructive." This was stated by Inter's CEO Giuseppe Marotta, after arriving at the wake of Joe Barone in the afternoon. "Of Barone, I must remember the tenacity, his having imported this American model into Italy which is definitely made of great determination - he added -. Also within the League, his positions were energetic, tough, positive towards the movement he was trying to grow. Is there an anecdote with Barone? What impressed me positively was his determination in doing things."
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