Daniele De Rossi will sue La Repubblica for defamation and donate the proceeds to charity. “It’s not the first time people have cast aspersions over my friendship with Francesco Totti.”
The report also elicited a furious response from Roma President Jim Pallotta, as it claimed among other things that De Rossi and teammates had tried to get Coach Eusebio Di Francesco and director Totti sacked.
Daniele De Rossi will sue La Repubblica for defamation and donate the proceeds to charity. “It’s not the first time people have cast aspersions over my friendship with Francesco Totti.”
The report also elicited a furious response from Roma President Jim Pallotta, as it claimed among other things that De Rossi and teammates had tried to get Coach Eusebio Di Francesco and director Totti sacked.
“In the article that appeared in La Repubblica, I am attributed behaviour I never engaged in and phrases I never said,” wrote De Rossi in an open letter to news agency Ansa.
“I want to express my indignation about the distorted, at times completely false, reconstruction of incidents. Because of this, I am forced to defend myself. Writing that I, or other extraordinary and fair professionals who always gave their heart for Roma, behaved like that is simply ridiculous, not to mention blatantly false.
“This article that ‘reconstructs’ the reasons for me leaving Roma are even more grotesque if we think that only a few days ago, I was offered a delicate and important role as a director working with the CEO. I was honoured to receive the offer, which I turned down for the reasons you all know.
“In any case, because I consider what was written to be gravely defamatory and damaging to my reputation, I will ask my lawyers to demand compensation that I will then donate entirely to charity.
“This is not the first time that people have tried to cast aspersions over my friendship with Totti. I tell you this: try harder…”