Roma President James Pallotta admits he “didn’t expect it to be this crazy” in Serie A, but is confident they’ll pass FFP tests.
The American patron spoke to ESPN about his experiences in Italian football and was particularly surprised by the media focus on his club.
Roma President James Pallotta admits he “didn’t expect it to be this crazy” in Serie A, but is confident they’ll pass FFP tests.
The American patron spoke to ESPN about his experiences in Italian football and was particularly surprised by the media focus on his club.
“I didn’t expect it to be this crazy. The frustrating part is how many times stuff is just made up, though we're starting to see an improvement,” said Pallotta.
Roma and Inter both failed to meet Financial Fair Play parameters, but their reasons will be heard in a UEFA committee.
“I think UEFA will be pleasantly surprised at out our operation and what we’ve done the last few years. We can't get penalized for what was going on before we took over. It was an extremely distressed situation. I’d like to think we’d be looked at as one of the poster boys.”
The Giallorossi are certainly investing in the future, planning to build a 52,500-seater stadium, although Italian red tape is causing problems.
“We’d like to break ground in March and hopefully open mid-way through the 2016-17 season. I think we have a better set up than most. I’d rather be Roma than Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea… I mean, how many teams are there in London? Plus, they have restrictions on what they can do with their stadium.”
Another of the issues in Italian football is the constant arguing between clubs, who therefore struggle to work together for the greater good.
“We have a ways to go,” continued Pallotta. “We’re getting more buy-in, but it’s like guerrilla warfare, marginal gains.
“We can do a lot of good things in Rome ourselves to become a big global brand, but that’s not the point. We want the league to be high-functioning and get back to where it was.”