Being a Romanista (fan of the Italian football club AS Roma) hardens one into a skeptical news reader. One learns to raise an eyebrow while reading the sentence – ‘Roma are in talks with Mr. X’s agent about a BIG SUMMER MOVE to the Capitoline club (‘Capitoline’ is the substitute name used for AS Roma in the Football Manager video game series due to licensing and naming rights restrictions.)
‘CHIESA DI TOTTI’ stated that one has to stifle a laugh when one sees someone breathlessly report that an exciting Manager is in talks to take over on the touchline (though the José Mourinho [he managed AS Roma from July 2021 to January 2024] and Gian Piero Gasperini [Head Coach of AS Roma] signings have done some work to remove that particular gut impulse). And one better start counting pennies the moment a sporting Director says, “We’re not concerned about Financial Fair Play (a set of financial rules created by the football governing bodies to stop the soccer clubs from spending more money than they earn thus preventing severe debt, bankruptcy and unfair competition).”
Most of all, every Romanista knows that anything mentioning a new Stadio Della Roma (the new stadium plans of AS Roma), one that could provide much-needed revenue to the ‘I Giallorossi’, should be flat-out ignored.
Bureaucratic Nightmares
And yet, after more than a decade of false starts, abandoned plans and enough bureaucratic nightmares to make Kafka feel like a poseur (a bizarre game where you have no idea of the rules) we can finally say it: Roma’s new stadium has been approved.
Positive Opinion
‘CHIESA DI TOTTI’ further stated that the final Conference of Servizi Decisoria concluded recently with a positive opinion on the technical and economic feasibility project for the Stadio Della Roma in Pietralata (the 21st official quartiere (quarter or district) of Rome, Italy). The Government Commissioner Massimo Sessa signed the single authorization with the Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri countersigning it as the Deputy Commissioner. With that, the AS Roma are authorized to move the Stadio Della Roma project into the construction phase.
The AS Roma is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927 Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence except for the 1951-1952 seasons.
The Stadio Olimpico is an Italian multipurpose sports venue located in Rome (Italy). Seating over 70,000 spectators it is the largest sports facility in Rome.
The Stadio della Roma project is AS Roma’s long-planned, privately-funded new home stadium and mixed-use urban development in Rome, Italy, designed to replace the Stadio Olimpico.
A ‘Conference of Servizi Decisoria’ or Decisional Services Conference is a mandatory legal mechanism in the Italian administrative law. It is used to streamline and accelerate public decision-making when a project or action requires multiple authorizations, clearances, or opinions from the different Government entities.
Stadio Della Roma Story
As any longtime Romanista knows the Stadio Della Roma story predates the Friedkin family’s ownership of the ‘I Giallorossi’. James Pallotta (American billionaire businessman who was the Co-Owner and Chairman AS Roma from 2011 to 2020) spent years trying to make a project happen in Tor di Valle project, only for that plan to collapse after becoming mired in bureaucratic and political complications. The club ultimately abandoned the project in 2021 in large part due to Pallotta’s sale of the club to the Friedkin Group after continuously hitting brick walls in the stadium development process. Once they had the keys to Trigoria (the official sports and training complex of AS Roma) the Friedkins promptly turned their attention to Pietralata.
The Tor di Valle project was a long-planned, multiuse master plan to build a new private home stadium (Stadio della Roma) and an adjoining business park for the Serie A football club AS Roma.
Phew Moment!
Now, with the bureaucratic hurdles largely cleared, Roma can finally start moving from asking, “Will we ever build this thing?” to asking “How quickly can we build it?” The goal that’s been presented by the city is to begin construction as early as March 2027. Construction is expected to last approximately two and a half years putting the stadium on track to be completed by the end of 2029.
Get Going
There are still steps between the above approval and the first shovel hitting the ground. But, Roma finally has permission to get going on this project. Any remaining questions are fundamentally different from the existential question that has surrounded Roma’s stadium plans for years: Can we build this?
Public Green Space-Infrastructure
Part of the reason the ‘I Giallorossi’ can start building is because they’re fronting a whole lot of money to help develop the area surrounding the Pietralata project. The stadium itself is designed for roughly 60,000 spectators enough to help Italy host the EUROS in 2032 (the 19th edition of the Men’s European Football Championship) but the stadium project will also be a part of a much larger redevelopment of the area, including extensive public green space and infrastructure. The commitment of more than €1 billion to the overall project and associated works by the club is a statement of intent and suggests once again that the AS Roma is The Friedkin Group’s (Roma Owner) main priority in sports for the long term.
Romanisti have been hardened into believing the stadium will never come. They have been hardened into thinking that the bureaucracy of Roman and Italian politics might doom the ‘I Giallorossi’ to always be one step below the Manchester Uniteds (UK Premier League team) and the FC Barcelonas (Spain LaLiga team) of the world. And yet, here we are. The renderings are that much closer to becoming reality. March 2027 is when the AS Roma just might break ground.
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