Nicolò Zaniolo, who is on loan at Fiorentina from Galatasaray, has been accused by Roma of hitting two young Roma players after a fight in the dressing room.
The incident took place after Fiorentina beat Roma in the semi-final of the Primavera youth league play-offs on Monday, May 26, at Viola Park.
Roma posted an official statement on their website about what happened.
They said that after the match, Zaniolo went into the youth team’s dressing room and acted provocatively toward some Roma youth players. During this time, he is said to have physically struck two players.
Roma strongly condemned the behavior, saying that violence does not match the values of sport.
Zaniolo was watching the game from the stands and cheering for Fiorentina as they moved closer to the final. However, some Fiorentina fans were already insulting the Roma team.
According to Sportitalia, Zaniolo was not allowed in the dressing rooms, but he went in anyway and argued with several Roma players.
The argument then turned physical, and Zaniolo is accused of punching two teenage Roma players.
Fiorentina also released a statement sharing Zaniolo’s version of the story.
Zaniolo said he entered the locker room to congratulate the Fiorentina players and then passed through the Roma room to greet and praise them for their season.
He added that Roma players started insulting him, so he decided to leave quickly to avoid making the situation worse.
Zaniolo first became well known at Roma but asked to leave the club in January 2023.
He was then sold to Galatasaray and loaned to Aston Villa, Atalanta, and Fiorentina, but none of those clubs wanted to buy him permanently.
Zaniolo started his football career in Fiorentina’s youth system but was released. He then joined Virtus Entella and made his professional debut with their youth team in Serie B in 2017.
After that, he moved to Inter Milan for one season before joining Roma. At Roma, he became one of Italy’s most promising young players and even won the Serie A Young Player of the Year award in 2018-19.
