A PIG’S HEAD has been left on the pitch of Italian team Livorno in a chilling message to the club’s owners.
The Serie C side are enduring a slow start to the season following an ownership saga that continues to engulf the team.
And angry ultras made their feelings known last week with a horrific message on the pitch of their Stadio Armando Picchi.
A pig’s head was laid in front of three crosses, each bearing the name of a club director.
According to journalist Andrew Cesare, the banner behind the display read: “You will pay for everything. You will pay dearly.”
Lega Pro president Francesco Ghirelli described the scene as ‘unacceptable’ amid the recently relegated club’s financial issues.
He stated: “The precarious situation of the club does not justify any act of absurd violence.
“We ask for an answer the problems that anguish the city of Livorno and we invite the various actors to give a strong and rigorous solution that provides certainties quickly, as well as stable and lasting responses.”
Aldo Spinelli bought the Tuscan club in 1997 and led them up the leagues to Serie A, their first top-flight stay in 55 years.
Reaching the Uefa Cup in 2006, they have since bounced around Italian football’s top tiers and Spanelli decided to sell the club in the summer.
All that remains is to surrender and step aside.
Rosettano Navarra
The threat of bankruptcy has not gone away after a proposed takeover by Dutch businessman Majd Yousif collapsed.
And last month club president Rosettano Navarra, who only arrived at the crisis club in the summer, handed his shares over to the city council before ex-Trapani chief Giorgio Heller came in to steady the ship.
He wrote in an open letter: “All that remains is to surrender and step aside. I have therefore decided to donate my share of Livorno Calcio to this city and its fans.”
