Fiorentina are considering disciplinary action against former head coach Fabio Grosso as they seek to avoid paying his salary for the remaining length of his contract, according to Football Italia.
Grosso was dismissed on 6 September after Fiorentina lost their first three matches of the Serie A season. Paolo Vanoli was appointed as his replacement.
The club is now examining whether it can establish that Grosso was unable to continue in the role because of fundamental disagreements with Fiorentina’s management over the club’s transfer strategy. If that position is accepted, Fiorentina could seek to have the dismissal classified as disciplinary rather than as a standard termination of the coach’s contract.
Such a ruling would allow the club to avoid paying Grosso for the remainder of his deal. The potential move is therefore aimed at reducing the financial consequences of his departure while providing Fiorentina with a formal justification for ending the relationship.
According to the report, the club believes the dispute over transfer policy could demonstrate that working conditions between Grosso and the management had broken down to the point where he could not continue. However, although the coach reportedly said it was impossible for him to carry on, he did not submit his resignation.
That distinction is central to Fiorentina’s position. Grosso’s departure was announced as a dismissal following the club’s difficult opening to the Serie A campaign, but the club is now considering whether the circumstances surrounding the disagreement with its leadership could support disciplinary proceedings.
If Fiorentina are successful, Grosso would not receive the salary that would otherwise have been due until the end of his contract. The club’s review is consequently focused on whether the alleged conflict over the transfer strategy provides sufficient grounds to treat the dismissal differently from a conventional managerial sacking.
The report does not state that Fiorentina have already completed disciplinary proceedings or that a final decision has been made. At present, the club is considering the possibility of using that route in an attempt to save money on Grosso’s dismissal.
The former coach’s tenure ended after three consecutive defeats at the beginning of the season, with Vanoli taking charge afterwards. Fiorentina’s reported plan now centres on the circumstances of Grosso’s departure rather than on changing the identity of his successor.
The case, as described by Football Italia, rests on two competing positions: Fiorentina may argue that Grosso’s disagreement with the management made it impossible for him to remain in the job, while the fact that he did not resign could leave the club seeking to justify its decision through disciplinary measures.
For Fiorentina, a successful disciplinary ruling would mean avoiding payments covering the unexpired period of Grosso’s contract. For the coach, the issue concerns whether his dismissal is treated as a normal termination or as a justified disciplinary decision.