Roma CEO Guido Fienga held a press conference today to unveil newly acquired attacker, Pedro, and was asked a variety of questions about the latest news surrounding the club.
The Giallorossi executive was asked about their latest mishap involving a mix-up with the club’s team-list.
Roma were handed an automatic 0-3 loss by the sporting judge for last weekend’s match against Verona after they accidentally added 23 year-old midfielder Amadou Diawara into their officially submitted Under-22 team list.
“This episode is clearly based on a mistake made in good faith. It certainly didn’t give any advantage to Roma,” said Fienga.
“We believe Roma has a right to defend itself, but hearing all of these federal bodies, such as the president of the court, discussing and even making fun of our appeal has left us perplexed. It seems that our right to a defence has been compromised”.
“They’ve said that there’s no chance that the decision will be overturned — this is like equating our simple error to willful misconduct. We regret the mistake, but we have the right to defend ourselves. We hope that a judgement will be made independently and with calm”.
Fienga was then asked about the future of manager Paulo Fonseca, who has been heavily linked with an exit in the near future, as whispers about the arrival of Max Allegri have grown louder.
“Fonseca has never been under discussion, he’s our coach. We started a project with him last year. It’s not an open discussion. As for the sporting director, this role is currently vacant. We will fill the role soon with someone we consider competent and aligned with the club’s philosophy”.
“I’ve heard about (Juventus sporting director) Fabio Paratici being linked to the role, but I find this disrespectful. He’s our opponent this weekend and we hope to beat him on Sunday”.
The Giallorossi executive was then asked about the situation involving Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian was a step away from joining Juventus but the deal fell through after Roma could not reach an agreement with Napoli for Arek Milik.
He replied, “I would like to underline the consistency of our words with this situation — Edin is our captain and we are happy that he is and will remain so. We know the value and professionalism of Edin. If he steps on to the pitch on Sunday, he will give his best”.
“Roma’s idea for Edin was that he would always remain,” concluded Fienga.
