Former Roma CEO Guido Fienga recalled the failed stadium project during James Pallotta’s ownership of the club.
The current director of the Saudi fund PIF, spoke at the Festival of Law and Economics addressing the issue of football infrastructure in Italy.
Speaking to Il Corriere dello Sport, Fienga retraced the failure of the Giallorossi stadium project, underlining the bureaucratic difficulties that are holding back the development of Italian football.
According to the former executive, the problem of infrastructure in the country is structural and football is one of the main victims: “We have the presumption of feeling at the forefront, but it takes twenty years to build infrastructures like the Auditorium Parco della Musica or the Nuvola.”
“Elsewhere, it takes 24-36 months to build. Instead of facilitating the project for the new Roma stadium, totally financed by private individuals, they preferred to hinder it as if it were a religious war.”
“The result? A billion dollars not invested in the city, jobs lost and a team that continues to play in a facility where it pays rent for every match.”
Fienga then highlighted the speed with which modern sports facilities are being built elsewhere, citing the case of Saudi Arabia: “In Riyadh, the last stadium was built in 18 months.”
“This is the pace at which the world moves. If in Italy we continue to talk about projects between ifs, buts and maybes, we will be left behind. If we don’t change our mentality, our future will be abroad, as will the young people who will look for opportunities elsewhere.”
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