Giuseppe "Beppe" Marotta (born 25 March 1957) is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

executive who is currently the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

for sport of

Italian football Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Bra ...

club

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

. In 2014, he was inducted into the

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame ( it, Hall of Fame del calcio italiano) is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Ital ...

Early career

In 1978, at age 21, Marotta began his career in

when he was appointed as

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of Youth Department for his hometown club

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

. Just one year later, Marotta was promoted to

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

(GM) ( it, Direttore Generale) of Varese and in his first season in charge saw his team promoted back to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

. With Marotta as GM, Varese would spend five consecutive seasons in Serie B. However, Marotta's final two seasons at Varese saw the club twice relegated, falling down to

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

after the 1985–86 season. After leaving Varese, Marotta was appointed GM of

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

club

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. During his tenure at Monza, the club were promoted to Serie B and spent two seasons at that level, before relegation back down to Serie C1. After four seasons at Monza, Marotta moved on to serve as director general for

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

in Serie C1 for three seasons, and then at

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

for two seasons, also in Serie C1. In 1995, Marotta was hired by

Maurizio Zamparini Maurizio Zamparini (9 June 1941 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian businessman. He was the owner and director of football club U.S. Città di Palermo between July 2002 – February 2017 and from July 2017 – December 2018. Biography Zampari ...

to serve as GM for

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

, then playing in Serie B. While there, Venezia achieved a historic promotion back to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

in 1998, marking the club's first return to the top flight in more than 30 years. After five seasons at the club, Marotta left Venezia at the end of the 1999–2000 season, after Venezia was again relegated to Serie B. From Venezia, Marotta became GM for Serie A club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

, where he served for two seasons. During his time at Atalanta, the club finished seventh and ninth in the Serie A table.

Sampdoria

Following the 2001–02 season, Marotta changed clubs again, this time moving to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. At the time of Marotta's hiring, the club was coming off its lowest table finish since the founding of the club in 1946, a tenth place finish in the club's third-straight season in Serie B. However, the club had also recently been purchased by local Genoese oil industrialist Riccardo Garrone, which, in turn, added an influx of wealth to the struggling club. In Marotta's first season as GM, he hired

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Walter Novellino Walter Alfredo Novellino (born 4 June 1953; ), is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Novellino was born at Montemarano, province of Avellino. After spending his childhood in São Paulo, Brazi ...

, the same coach who in 1998 had guided Venezia back to Serie A under Marotta. Together, and with new money at their disposal, Marotta and Novellino revamped the Sampdoria squad in the 2002 transfer window, adding both experienced Serie A veterans, such as

Massimo Paganin Massimo Paganin (born 19 July 1970) is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a defender; he was capable of playing both as a centre-back, as well as in the position of full-back. Career Paganin was born in Vicenza. Massimo's ...

Sergio Volpi Sergio Volpi (; born 2 February 1974) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Volpi was capped twice for the Italy senior side at international level, and spent over ten seasons in Serie A throughout his career. Club career ...

Fabio Bazzani Fabio Bazzani (; born 20 October 1976) is an Italian football coach and a former player who played as a striker. As a player, he was known in particular for his heading ability, as well his shooting accuracy and physical strength. Club career ...

, and

Stefano Bettarini Stefano Bettarini (; born 6 February 1972) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a defender, and a television personality. He played once for the Italy national team. He was a contestant on Grande Fratello VIP, 2016 and ...

, along with several promising young players, such as Angelo Palombo, Maurizio Domizzi and

Andrea Gasbarroni Andrea Gasbarroni (born 6 August 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Juventus An attacking midfielder who can also play occasionally as a winger or second striker, Gasbarroni started his ...

. This overhaul proved successful as Novellino guided Sampdoria to a second-place finish in the 2002–03 season, earning the club promotion back to Serie A, as well as a quarter-final finish in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. In 2003–04, he added to two big-name acquisitions in

Cristiano Doni Cristiano Doni (; born 1 April 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, on either flank or in the middle. Most of his professional career (which spanned two decades) was associated with Atalanta, ...

and

Francesco Antonioli Francesco Stefano Antonioli (born 14 September 1969) is an Italian former footballer who played as goalkeeper. He was the oldest footballer in Serie A until his club Cesena were relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2011–12 season, after wh ...

as Sampdoria finished in eighth place, just missing out on

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

qualification. In 2004, Marotta was appointed to serve as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) ( it, Amministratore delegato) of Sampdoria, in addition to his role of GM. Shortly after, Marotta hired ex-player

Fabio Paratici Fabio Paratici (born 13 July 1972 in Borgonovo Val Tidone) is an Italian former football player. He is the Managing Director of Football for English club Tottenham Hotspur. He previously worked for about eleven years as Chief Football Officer of I ...

to serve as chief observer/head of scouting for Sampdoria. Paratici worked very closely under the guidance of Marotta, often being described as his "right-hand man". The 2004–05 season saw Sampdoria finish in sixth place, missing the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

qualification by just one point. Nevertheless, Sampdoria qualified for the UEFA Cup, marking the first time one of Marotta's teams had qualified for European competition. The 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons saw the club finish 12th and 9th respectively. Following the disappointing 2006–07 season, Marotta replaced manager Walter Novellino with

Walter Mazzarri Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian former footballer and head coach, most recently in charge of Serie A club Cagliari. After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several ...

. The 2007 transfer season also saw Marotta bring in the controversial Italian forward

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfield ...

on a year-long loan from

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

with the option to purchase the player. The 2007–08 season saw the club finish in sixth place to qualify again for the UEFA Cup. After signing Cassano in full, Marotta added another highly regarded striker to Sampdoria with the purchase of

Giampaolo Pazzini Giampaolo Pazzini (; born 2 August 1984), nicknamed ''Il Pazzo'' ("The Madman") after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Serie A with Atalanta, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, ...

from

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

for a fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

9 million in January 2009. However, Sampdoria struggled in the 2008–09 season, finishing in 13th place in Serie A, leading Marotta to not renew the expiring contract of head coach Walter Mazzarri. After dismissing Mazzarri, Marotta hired head coach

Luigi Delneri Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player. After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...

, himself coming off two successful seasons at Atalanta, for the 2009–10 season. Marotta also brought in several key players during the season's two transfer windows, including

Daniele Mannini Daniele Mannini (born 25 October 1983) is an Italian footballer who plays as a winger. Appearing for clubs such as Pisa, Brescia, Napoli and Sampdoria over the course of a near two decade long professional career, he made over 150 appearances in ...

Fernando Tissone Fernando Damián Tissone Rodrigues (born 24 July 1986) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Eccellenza club Sangiustese. Career Early career Tissone was born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province. He start ...

Nicola Pozzi Nicola Pozzi (born 30 June 1986) is an Italian professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for San Donato. Club career Milan Signed by A.C. Milan from then-Serie C1 side Cesena in January 2004, he was successively loaned to Napo ...

and

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan i ...

. Behind 28 Serie A goals from the strike partnership of Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini, and under Delniri's management, Sampdoria finished the 2009–10 season in fourth place, qualifying for the 2010–11 Champions League. In May 2010, it was heavily rumored

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

was interested in hiring Marotta, and Sampdoria's owner/president Riccardo Garrone openly stated he would gladly let Marotta leave for the more prestigious club.

Juventus

In May 2010, Marotta was officially brought to Juventus by newly elected club chairman

Andrea Agnelli Andrea Agnelli (; born 6 December 1975) is an Italian businessman. Agnelli served as chairman of Italian football club Juventus F.C. since May 2010 to until his resignation on November 2022 following a Financial Accounts Probe ordered by the Tur ...

(Agnelli role effective in October, but he start to co-opted with the board since 19 May) as GM for the Sports Area ( it, Direttore Generale Area Sport), replacing

Jean-Claude Blanc Jean-Claude Blanc (; born 9 April 1963 in Chambéry, France) is a French general manager and former marketing executive of Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and former CEO of Juventus F.C., Juventus Football Club. Education Blanc holds an International Bu ...

(who retained the role of chairman and CEO until October 2010). Marotta signed a three-year contract with the club, tying him there until June 2013. Juventus had just finished the season in seventh place, their worst since returning to Serie A after the ''

Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football b ...

'' scandal. In his move from Sampdoria to Juventus, Marotta also brought along head of scouting

and

Luigi Delneri. On 27 October 2010, Marotta was appointed a member of Juventus' Board of Directors and named the club's CEO, replacing Jean-Claude Blanc. However, Aldo Mazzia was appointed

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

(CFO) and CEO of the club in April and in May 2011 respectively. Similar to his first transfer market upon taking over at Sampdoria, Marotta spent the first year in charge of transfer operations at Juventus making wholesale changes to the squad, acquiring 14 new players, including

Miloš Krasić Miloš Krasić ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Красић; born 1 November 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a winger. He represented the Serbia national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and at one point in his career, he ...

Fabio Quagliarella Fabio Quagliarella (; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Sampdoria, whom he captains. Throughout his career, Quagliarella has played for eight different Italian clubs, winning ...

Alessandro Matri Alessandro Matri (; born 19 August 1984) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career Born in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, a ''comune'' 30 km away from the city of Milan, Matri starte ...

and

Alberto Aquilani Alberto Aquilani (; born 7 July 1984) is an Italian football manager and former player. Mainly a central midfielder, he usually operated as a deep-lying playmaker, but was also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder. He is the head coach o ...

;) while offloading 11 players, including selling club legend

David Trezeguet David Sergio Trezeguet (born 15 October 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at the age of eight, progressing through their youth system ...

and Brazilian playmaker

Diego Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. Et ...

, moves which were unpopular with fans. Juventus finished the 2010–11 season in seventh place, missing out again on Champions League football and also having failed to advance past the group stages of the

2010–11 UEFA Europa League The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with ...

. Following the disappointing season, Marotta and the club announced manager Luigi Delneri would not be returning for another season. On 31 May 2011, Marotta announced the appointment of former Juventus player and captain

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later b ...

as head coach. Conte's appointment was met with some skepticism due to his inexperience in top-flight football. Marotta stated in an interview with the ''

Corriere dello Sport ''Corriere dello Sport'' is an Italian national sports newspaper based in Rome, Italy. It is one of three major Italian sports daily newspapers and has the largest readership in central and southern Italy, the fourth most read throughout the co ...

'' that the club's objectives for the new season were to win the ''

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...

'' or at least qualify for the Champions League. During the 2011–12 summer transfer window, Marotta set about to improve last years finish by bringing in eight new players to the squad, including

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

and

Michele Pazienza Michele Pazienza (; born 5 August 1982) is an Italian football coach, and a former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently in charge of Audace Cerignola. Career Foggia Pazienza was born in San Severo in the province of Fogg ...

on free transfers, and new signings

Stephan Lichtsteiner Stephan Lichtsteiner (; born 16 January 1984) is a Swiss former professional footballer. An attacking right-back or wing-back, he was known for his energetic runs down the right wing, as well as his stamina and athleticism, which earned him the ...

Arturo Vidal Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (; born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and the Chile national team. His displays during his time at Juventus led him to be n ...

Mirko Vučinić Mirko Vučinić (, ; born 1 October 1983) is a Montenegrin former professional footballer who played as a forward. Having caught the attention of Pantaleo Corvino, the sporting director of the Italian club Lecce, he transferred there in the su ...

Emanuele Giaccherini Emanuele Giaccherini (; born 5 May 1985) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He began his career at A.C. Cesena, Cesena, and after loans at t ...

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and

Eljero Elia Eljero George Rinaldo Elia (born 13 February 1987) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger. He turned professional at ADO Den Haag and then played for Twente before moving abroad to represent Hamburger SV, Juventus and Werder ...

. In May 2012, Juventus won their first Scudetto in six years. Since Juventus' surprise run to the 2015 Champions League final, Marotta and the club administration have been praised for assembling one of Europe's top midfields at a minimal cost, with first choice midfielders

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, de ...

(free), Arturo Vidal (€10.5 million), Andrea Pirlo (free) and

Claudio Marchisio Claudio Marchisio (; born 19 January 1986) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A product of the Juventus youth system, he spent a large portion of his career at his hometown club, with the exception of a sea ...

(youth product/free), as well as several back-up midfielders on loan, all costing a cumulative total less than €15 million and contributing over one-third of the goals scored in all competitions that season. On 31 October 2018, Marotta officially terminated his contract as Juventus CEO.

Internazionale

On 13 December 2018, Marotta officially joined Inter as CEO for sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marotta, Giuseppe 1957 births Living people People from Varese Italian sports executives and administrators Juventus F.C. directors U.C. Sampdoria directors