Viola Nation and US journalist respond to Rocco Commisso attacks

At the last press conference, the president of Fiorentina brought charges against a journalist from the American portal Viola Nation. Here is his answer

With a long message posted on Viola Nationan American portal dedicated to foreign and foreign Viola fans, journalists and fans Mike McCormack Reply to accusations from Rocco komiso During the last press conference:

“At the press conference held on Tuesday 6 September 2022, Mr. Rocco Commisso made several false and harmful statements against me. Commisso stated that I followed him around New York and approached his house to shoot videos. He then claimed to have followed him to a Serie A party for the same purpose. He claimed that I died as a friend of Mario Tenerani and hinted that friendship with me would have negative consequences for him and for any journalist who deals with Fiorentina. To justify this claim, the President spoke of an alleged email from me as evidence. He also claimed that journalists never defended him in the press against racist or other attacks by the national media. All of these allegations are completely false.

In May this year, I attended the Serie A gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a host from the same Italian league: they asked me to help them announce the opening of an office in the United States. At the press conference on Tuesday, Mr. Commisso reduced my presence to trying to see if Was he alive or dead?. At first he claimed I followed him to his house and did a photoshoot.

In fact, I saw the comiso outside the party. While we were waiting to enter the Met in New York, Commisso showed up and said goodbye to Joe Barron and entered. As a fan and journalist, I photographed the brief moment he was outside the museum, as well as during Mr. Commisso’s public address at dinner. I later posted photos and videos on Twitter over hereAnd the over hereAnd the over here And the over here. The content of our messages was very positive and we allowed other Italian journalists to use our photos and videos in their reporting. At the end of the event, I joined some friends for a drink and went back to the hotel.

Claiming that those tweets were a way to confirm whether Commisso, as he put it, ‘dead or alive’, It is clearly wrong. I did not participate in this event hoping to film it. I participated because I rarely had the opportunity to interact with the wider Italian football community. The only other time I shared pictures of Mr. Commisso on social media was in 2019 and with his encouragement. Also, I never followed him to his house or anywhere else. I’ve never been to his place of residence and to be honest, I don’t even know where he is. Any statement to the contrary, to use an expression common in Florence by Mr Commisso, Fake news“.

Later, Mr. Commisso claimed that he sent him an email claiming that Mario Tenerani and I were friends, implying that any such association with me would have negative consequences for him and other journalists. I’ve met Mr. Tenerani twice, only for a short time […].

Until this press conference, I had had no correspondence with Mr. Tenerani, to whom I apologized on Tuesday for the fact that he was wrongly involved in this story. Then Mario read aloud the email I had sent to him on Lady Radio. in all my correspondence addressed to mr. Commisso and Fiorentina, I never mentioned mr. Tenerani. Mr. Commisso’s comments on me are an unexpected and baseless attack on my work and on my person. This is much more than just fake news.

So far I kept silent. After taking some time to evaluate my response and ask for advice, I contacted the club and Mediacom to ask for clarification. You requested the email that was used as the basis for his baseless attack […]. I also requested clarification regarding the date of my attempt to document the President’s health. I did not receive a response.

[…] In the end, I have been consistent in supporting Mr. Commisso since his involvement with Fiorentina, like my work on shows Viola Nation (examples over hereAnd the over hereAnd the over here And the over here). She supported him through attacks on him by other members of the press and fans, and condemned discrimination against America and the South. I helped grow the official Rocco Commisso fan club after it was founded. I have always advocated for Mr. Commisso in my public and private interactions with the press and the public. The narrative he uses at every press conference where no journalist has supported Rocco out of bigotry is again fake news.

I have emailed the president twice in the past two years, offering support on the club’s relationship with the media and fans. I offered to be a bridge in some way. I’ve talked to him previously about the team as well, and get occasional access to players and staff for stories to tell Viola NationBut then the relationship ended when the Covid pandemic broke out.

I am married with four children and have a career that includes running offices in two different cities. I have neither the time nor the desire to follow Mr. Commisso around New York City or anywhere else, he said. I have no interest in eroding your relationship with the public or the media. However, I will not allow him to insult me ​​with impunity, or to lie about my actions and my actions in a room full of reporters 4,000 miles from my workplace and without attending the press conference. I hope other journalists in Florence and all over Italy now realize that they don’t have to put up with these abuses at every press conference. You may never get respect, but don’t accept disrespect.

When I first met Mr Commisso in September 2019, he asked me why an American with an Irish title was talking to him about Italian football in his office. My answer has not changed: I love this club, our fans and the city of Florence. I know that the club is not the group owned or managed, it is the fans’ love for the club. If the club is sold tomorrow, I will continue to support the shirt…I wonder how many other people in the club could say the same. Purple force! I’m with Fiorentina! “.

click here To read the full message Viola Nation.