Rich dude might take over Roma

[P.Nima]

American businessman Thomas DiBenedetto should soon finalise his purchase of Roma.

DiBenedetto landed in the Italian capital on Monday to oversee the buyout of the Serie A club.

"Our aim is to make Roma one of the top clubs in the world,'' DiBenedetto said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. "We want a team that the city will always be proud of, but of course this will take time.''

DiBenedetto, who is leading a group of investors to purchase the club, has held exclusive negotiations in recent weeks with Roma's holding company Italpetroli - the Sensi family holding company which was taken over by UniCredit.

He hopes the takeover will be completed this week after his group's bid was the most competitive of the five received by Roma.

"Rome is a wonderful city and for us to be able to represent it in the world is a great opportunity,'' DiBenedetto said.

Roma are currently sixth in Serie A and six points behind Udinese, who hold the last Champions League qualifying spot with eight rounds remaining. The Giallorossi host Juventus on Sunday.

"We all hope that Roma qualifies for the Champions League,'' DiBenedetto said. "Roma have recently recovered after a difficult period. But they still lack continuity. ''

DiBenedetto is also a partner in Fenway Sports Group, the company which owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...keover?cc=5739

[EKBATAN]

good for roma and serie A, they need more rich dudes pumpin money into the leauge

[P.Nima]

Yes hopefully this will make Serie A a tad more interesting. Roma has fallen so much behind Inter and Milan the last couple of years.

[EKBATAN]

Yes hopefully this will make Serie A a tad more interesting. Roma has fallen so much behind Inter and Milan the last couple of years.

yes if u look deep into italy right now, the league has many financial problems, many teams dont own their own stadium so they have to rent, there is problem with fans buying tickets (its a complicated process) so less attendance, the teams dont have enough money to invest so they end up loaning players which they end up leaving, u cant build a team when u change players so much, and many other things.

[kapenak]

can somebody explain to me what the deal with fans buying tickets is? I have always wondered why the stadiums are always empty, even for big games they dont fill to capacity...

[Nokhodi]

yes if u look deep into italy right now, the league has many financial problems, many teams dont own their own stadium so they have to rent, there is problem with fans buying tickets (its a complicated process) so less attendance, the teams dont have enough money to invest so they end up loaning players which they end up leaving, u cant build a team when u change players so much, and many other things.

The funniest/saddest thing was that many clubs now have such poor pitches that the TV networks force them to spray the bald spots on the field with green paint! Apparently in one game a player had an allergy to the paint and had to be taken to hospital.

[Masoud_A]

can somebody explain to me what the deal with fans buying tickets is? I have always wondered why the stadiums are always empty, even for big games they dont fill to capacity...

Because even Italian football fans cant stand that boring football anymore.
Waits for mad Italy homers attack!

[soheil86]

deal is 99% done. though i dont think he will splash the cash like chelsea and whore city. the financial situation on transfers will probably be like liverpool in the last decade.

[Arian]

this guy also has shares in the company that owns liverpool (Fenway sports group)