Italian Serie A strugglers Sampdoria received a sinister warning from an unknown source on Saturday when a severed pig’s head was delivered to the club’s headquarters.
The “Godfather”-style gift was found in a box along with a message addressed to former club president Massimo Ferrero and current vice-president Antonio Romei reading “the next heads will be yours”, a spokesman for the club said.
The police have been notified, he added.
Ferrero, who still controls Sampdoria via a family holding, resigned from his position after he was arrested in 2021 on financial charges unrelated to football.
The 71-year-old has angered fans who say he is running down Sampdoria’s finances and refusing to sell the club to new owners capable of rescuing it from financial and sporting disaster.
The Genoa-based side currently sit second-bottom of the table on 11 points after 23 games, eight points adrift of safety. They next travel to fifth-placed Lazio on Monday.
Last month, a blank bullet was delivered to Sampdoria’s headquarters accompanied by threats against Ferrero and Edoardo Garrone, a previous owner of the club.
Other Italian teams have faced similar intimidation in the past.
The sporting director of Palermo received a severed goat’s head in the post in 2006, while in 1999, the president of Reggina received a bull’s head in the post.
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