The FIGC and Federal President, Gabriele Gravina, both express their condolences to ACF Fiorentina and the family of Joe Barone on his passing. The Viola club’s General Director passed away today at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan after being admitted for a cardiac arrest a few hours before the league game against Atalanta which was postponed to a later date.

Barone, who would have turned 58 tomorrow, was alongside the Fiorentina president, Rocco Commisso, in managing the club in recent years, also paying great attention to the Viola Women’s sector. In February, he welcomed the Azzurre to Viola Park for the friendly against the Republic of Ireland at the new facility.

A minute’s silence will be held in his memory ahead of each game organised by the professional Leagues and the Divisione Serie A Femminile Professionistica from today until the end of their next respective matchdays.

“I’ve lost a friend – stated Gravina upon the news that was broken whilst the Azzurri were in flight to the USA – and Italian football has lost a passionate and skilful director, an honest and genuine man who we also greatly appreciated for his moral values. The best thing he leaves behind is the creation of the splendid Viola Park, to which he paid great personal attention, down to the smallest detail. It is a sports centre for the future that represents a source of pride for Fiorentina and our football where, a few weeks ago, we played our first international fixture. I will never forget his sincere emotions when we presented him with an Italy shirt, the country he loved dearly”.