AS Roma President Has Big Expectations For New Stadio Della Roma

Serie A side AS Roma President James Pallotta said that the Stadio della Roma will be "the new Colosseum," according to FOOTBALL ITALIA. The club hopes to "finally start" construction on its new ground this year." Pallotta: "It will be the new Colosseum. You can't build a global brand without owning your own stadiums. Everyone in Rome wants this stadium -- except maybe Lazio fans, and they'll get to play there once a year. We're spending a lot of time deciding on what security measures there will be." He added, "Have any of you seen a match in Italy? Do you know what the derby between Roma and Lazio is like? In the north of Italy they don't fight much, it's not like that, but in the south like in Naples and Rome the security problems are very significant. ... There are three billion soccer fans in the world and I'd like 1% to have Roma as their second team, for all the things we do. That would mean having 30 million fans, and those are the numbers we aspire to" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 1/11).