Cragnotti says he is leaving behind a 'great Lazio'

The Italian tycoon, who held the Serie A trophy aloft two years ago, finally threw in the towel late on Monday, saying he would resign once new board members were elected.

"Life is made up of cycles and this cycle is ending. Although this Christmas will be different from the others, I have a tranquil soul because I've done a lot for this club," the 62-year-old told daily La Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday.

"I'm happy to be leaving behind a great Lazio."

The Rome-based club are unbeaten in 14 league games since an opening day defeat to Chievo and are in third place, just one point behind AC Milan and Inter.

But off the pitch, life is more problematic.

Cragnotti put the club up for sale last month, after his food company Cirio, which holds a 51 percent stake, defaulted on more than one billion euros of bonds.

A study by financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore showed Lazio finished last season with 487.4 million euros ($500.1 million) of debt, up 46 percent from the previous season.

Turnover dropped 12 percent and losses soared 57 percent to 139.8 million euros.

UNPAID PLAYERS

With the club submerged under spiralling debts and battered by waning revenues from erstwhile moneyspinners such as pay TV, most Lazio players have not been paid since June.

Last week pressure from the players began to build. First Lazio's Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone urged Cragnotti to deal with players' wages.

Then goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi issued an ultimatum, saying he wanted four months of unpaid wages -- about 720,000 euros -- by January 7 or he would be free to leave.

Coach

"The players' behaviour has been magnificent given this particularly difficult moment," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"And when the president actually leaves, it will obviously be extremely painful. We all owe him a lot. And I think he made his decision for the good of the club," Mancini said.

Cragnotti's resignation is widely expected to be formalised at a Lazio board meeting on January 3.

CRAGNOTTI'S REIGN

After taking over in 1992, Cragnotti built Lazio up from a frustratingly under-achieving club into a major force in the European game and he was the first Italian soccer president to float a club on the stock exchange.

Lazio moved up the ranks of the Italian elite -- fifth in 1993, fourth in 1994, second in 1995, third in 1996, fourth in 1997, seventh in 1998 and second by just a single point in 1999.

Cragnotti invested heavily to create a title-winning side for his Swedish coach Sven Goran Eriksson clinching the championship on the final day of the 1999-2000 season -- Lazio's first scudetto in 26 years.

"Two magic moments in my life -- winning the scudetto and our victory over Manchester United," Cragnotti reminisced to the Italian media. Lazio scored a 1-0 win over the English giants in the European Super Cup in 1999.

But Cragnotti's relationship with Lazio was also fraught at times. He boycotted games at the Olympic Stadium and threatened to quit on several occasions after the club had been fined for racist chants and banners inside the stadium.

Bets are now on who will take over the Lazio reins.

"I hope whoever my successors are, they will have the same good fortune that we had this year," Cragnotti said.