Andrea Leone, president of the Leone Film Group and a close confidant and friend of Dan and Ryan Friedkin, spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport today about what he expects from the new Giallorossi owners.
Will you really be on the board of Roma?
No. I have an excellent working relationship with The Friedkin Group, we’ll be exclusively distributing their next film in Italy. My nephew, Francesco, who works with me, has a friendly relationship with Ryan. But that’s a whole other story.
So you’re glad Friedkin took Roma?
Very. Pallotta never understood what it means to be 100% Romanista. For them, sport is different. If Rome loses, it changes your life. Last year, for the first time, I did not renew my ticket subscription. Now that there is another ownership group, I can return to the stadium. They are a solid group, they’re coming here to do good. I hope they don’t make the same mistakes, someone will have to explain what “Romanism” means.
A judgement on Pallotta?
He did many non-Romanista things to keep the fans away. Now I hope there is clarity and that nobody says they want to make Roma one of the strongest clubs in the world without being able to do so. Roma fans shouldn’t be fooled: with Pallotta, I felt fooled.
