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Establishment of the AS Roma Hall of Fame
Rome, Wednesday June 20, 2012
Mission
The A.S. Roma Hall of Fame is an institution set up by the Club to preserve and enhance its football heritage and the memory of an elite group of retired players employed by this Club from 1927 on. Inductions into the Hall of Fame are governed by procedures, criteria and guidelines set out and made public by A.S. Roma. Starting from 2012, the year the Hall of Fame was established, the Club will organize the balloting and election of a number of hall-of-famers each year. Therefore, the A.S. Roma Hall of Fame will welcome a new Class of hall-of-famers on an annual basis.
Eligibility and selection criteria
Every year A.S. Roma prepares a list of candidates for the next Class of its Hall of Fame. The initial list drawn up in 2012 will provide the basis for future elections, with no restrictions placed on previously non-inducted players. To enter the pool of candidates, players must meet the following two requirements: 1) have made at least one competitive or semi-competitive appearance with A.S. Roma (Italian national championships such as Divisione Nazionale, Serie A, Serie B; the so-called ‘World War II tournaments’; European/international competitions); 2) have retired at least two years previously.
In the year of its establishment, the A.S. Roma Hall of Fame will admit 11 former players in a specific, one-off balloting process. From 2013, A.S. Roma will: a) significantly reduce the number of yearly inductions; b) adjust some of the balloting process criteria.
Balloting process
Unlike other prestigious sports organizations, A.S. Roma assigns the voting process to both a selection committee (i) and the A.S. Roma fanbase (ii) with procedures and criteria approved by the Club on a yearly basis. The selection committee and the fans are responsible for ensuring that the Club’s Hall of Fame enshrines an authentic elite of former A.S. Roma players based on factors such as history, ability, statistics and crowd pulling power. i. The committee members are selected by the Club on grounds such as their professional profile, experience, competences, personal and/or professional ties to A.S. Roma and/or the city of Rome. ii. Fans are allowed to vote through procedures and criteria that are decided by the Club.
‘Hall of Fame Day’
The ‘Hall of Fame Day’ is a yearly festival organized by the Club after new inductees are made official. A.S. Roma organizes a ceremony to honour the athletes elected by both the committee and the fans, with new inductees invited to take part. The ‘Hall of Fame Day’ may be organized on a matchday. Ceremonies can be part of a specific pre-game routine, a weekend-long list of activities or in any other way decided by the Club.
The Hall
Along with the establishment of the Hall of Fame as a concept, A.S. Roma intends to place this new institution in a physical location where a tangible memory of the enshrined athletes and the collective patrimony of the Hall of Fame may be suitably preserved. Similarly, A.S. Roma will celebrate its Hall of Fame with both a physical/digital archive and various exhibitions, social activities, media and digital initiatives.
2012 Class of Inductees
The A.S. Roma Hall of Fame will begin with the induction of 11 retired players, who will form the 2012 Class. These first hall-of-famers will shape an ideal starting lineup, following the traditional shirt numbering system: from 1 to 11, each number associated with its traditional on-field position (1 goalkeeper; 2 right back; 5 and 6 centre backs; 3 left back; 4 and 8 midfielders; 10 'trequartista'; 7, 9 and 11 forwards). From 2013, the number of annual inductees will decrease significantly (to four or five) to preserve the overall elite value of this Hall of Fame.
Candidates
To celebrate the 85th anniversary of A.S. Roma's foundation, the initial list of candidates for the 2012 Class will include 85 players. To make the voting process easier – with an identical number of candidates for each of the 11 shirt numbers – the Club and the committee will work together on a final shortlist of 55 candidates (five for each shirt number in the ideal lineup). The Club provides members of the commission and the fans with candidate lists in the form of summaries and historical and tactical fact files. Brief biographical and statistical information is also prepared for each of the 55 final candidates with historical and technical details being checked and approved by the Club. This information is made available to members of the commission and the fans in a timeframe and manner deemed appropriate by the Club.
Committee voting system
Each committee member will submit to A.S. Roma his own list of 11 nominations, one for each shirt number. Each player picked by any of the five committee members gets 0.5 points. Therefore, a single player included in the 55 candidates shortlist could get a maximum of 2.5 points from the entire committee.
Fans' voting system
Fans will vote in 11 stages, one for each shirt number. A.S. Roma will allow any fan registered with the Club’s official website to take part to the balloting process. Each registered fan may vote just once for each shirt number. The 11 players with the most votes submitted by the entire voting fanbase will get 1.0 points each.
‘Hall of Fame’ induction
Considering both the committee and the fans' voting criteria, each player in the 55 candidates shortlist can obtain a maximum of 3.5 points. The 11 players with the most points in each shirt number category will be inducted into the 2012 Class of the A.S. Roma Hall of Fame.
Ties involving two or more players will be resolved by selecting the player picked by the fans.
