FLORENCE, Italy — Rocco Commisso, the vocal owner of the Italian soccer club Fiorentina and chairman of Mediacom Communications based in New York, has passed away at the age of 76.
Both Fiorentina and Mediacom announced his death early Saturday, though they did not disclose the cause.
“After a lengthy medical treatment, our beloved president has departed, leaving us in mourning today,” Fiorentina stated. “His greatest gift was his unwavering love for Fiorentina.”
Commisso transformed Mediacom into one of the largest cable TV companies in the United States before acquiring Fiorentina in 2019. He gained a reputation for his candid criticisms of Italy’s bureaucracy and its failure to construct new stadiums.
Born in Calabria, Commisso immigrated to the United States at the age of 12.
In addition to Fiorentina, he also owned the New York Cosmos and was a soccer player at Columbia University, an Ivy League institution he generously supported through philanthropy. The university’s soccer stadium bears his name.
The Cosmos praised Commisso as “a passionate leader who devoted his life to soccer and to the future of the sport in this country.”
“Rocco championed the best interests of American soccer, advocating for the game’s growth, the significance of community, and the ability of clubs to motivate the next generation,” the New York club wrote on X.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino also expressed his condolences, saying, “I was saddened to hear of Rocco Commisso’s passing, the president of Fiorentina who dedicated his life to our beautiful sport. In our conversations, he spoke of his players as if they were his own children and his club as an extension of himself. My heartfelt sympathies to his family, friends, and all who worked with him. A true great.”
Commisso’s time at Fiorentina included celebrating the team’s reach to the Conference League finals in 2023 and 2024.
However, the club has faced challenges this season and currently finds itself in Serie A’s relegation zone.
Commisso is survived by his wife, Catherine, and their two children, Giuseppe and Marisa.