Genoa CFC has found itself at the centre of an off-the-pitch controversy after reportedly refusing to issue a season ticket to its former president and current board member, Professor Alberto Zangrillo. The rejection has sparked outrage and potential legal ramifications, revealing deep divisions within the club’s hierarchy.
On Thursday, Zangrillo visited the club’s ticket office at Porto Antico to purchase a season ticket for himself and his son. To his surprise, the request was denied. According to sources close to the club, the refusal stems from a clause allowing Genoa to reject season ticket applications from individuals deemed to have harmed the club’s interests.
Zangrillo expressed his dismay in an interview with Corriere della Sera, saying, “I felt humiliated. I was ashamed, for my poor Genoa.” He recounted being discreetly pulled aside by Marco Trucco, the head of Genoa’s official store, and informed that he was no longer welcome by the club’s top management.
“I asked who had made this decision,” Zangrillo said, “and was told it came from the highest levels of the club.” With no option left, he left without a ticket, though not without a parting shot: “Who knows, maybe one day I’ll buy Genoa myself.”
Zangrillo, who led the club during the turbulent years of 777 Partners’ ownership, is currently a witness in legal proceedings involving American company A-Cap, a creditor of Genoa’s former owners. A-Cap has challenged the club’s recent recapitalisation, a move that strengthened the position of current majority shareholder and club president Dan Sucu, a Romanian businessman.
While A-Cap’s appeals have so far been rejected by the courts, the broader case remains open, with a key ruling scheduled for 26 February 2026. Genoa’s current management believes Zangrillo’s role in the ongoing legal dispute aligns him with entities working against the club’s interests, a position that appears to have influenced the decision to deny him season tickets.
Zangrillo has vowed to file a formal complaint with the Economic and Financial Police Unit in Genoa, escalating the matter beyond football circles and into legal territory.
As the legal and institutional drama unfolds, the episode underscores the internal fractures still lingering at Italy’s oldest football club, an institution whose off-field turbulence continues to cast a shadow over its ambitions on the pitch.
