Baldissoni and Fienga address club shareholders

Roma vice president Mauro Baldissoni and chief executive Guido Fienga addressed those in attendance at a scheduled AS Roma shareholders meeting at Trigoria on Monday afternoon.

Here are the highlights from the three-hour meeting...

THE VALUE OF THE SHIRT

Mauro Baldissoni: “The overall value of our shirt – adding together the sponsors on the front and back, and including the training kit – is second only to that of Juventus in Italy. We're certainly keen to improve this figure.

“There are no specific Totti shirts; there are AS Roma shirts. You can go into any shop and buy any Roma shirt, then personalise it with whichever name you want.”

THE NEW STADIUM

Baldissoni: "The requirements that fulfill the public interest - and which must be part of the urban-planning agreement currently being negotiated - were clearly set out in the declaration of public interest and during the Conferenza dei Servizi, in particular. Everything that was included in the previous administrative documents prior to this negotiation phase with the Municipality will certainly be kept in place and there's no possibility of things changing. There is no problem concerning the financing or the timeframes of the infrastructure. That is not an issue being debated.

“As for the possibility of an alternative project in Fiumicino, and although this is not a meeting for the Stadio della Roma project, I can say that investors have a duty to assess any alternative proposals put to them, with a view to safeguarding – to some extent at least – the investments made up until now, in the unlikely and undesirable eventuality that talks with the Municipality of Rome should not lead to a positive conclusion."

THE YOUTH ACADEMY

Baldissoni: “The possibility of an Under-23 team taking part in the Lega Pro is something Roma is looking into. Currently, the regulatory, organisational and operational conditions required to get the initiative off the ground are lacking. We're not the only ones; we're in the majority. Once the optimal conditions are in place it's definitely something we'll go ahead with. In the meantime we're setting up an U18 team to sit between the U17s and U19s with the aim of further improving our development of young footballers, who have always been a key asset for this club.

“This year Roma was the only club in Italy to have four youth sides reach the finals of their respective leagues. One lost in the quarter-finals and three made it to the final four, of which one lost in the final and the other won the Scudetto and the Super Cup. Roma have a very strong youth tradition.”

THE ROLE OF FRANCO BALDINI

Guido Fienga: "[Franco] Baldini is a consultant of the majority shareholder. He has no role in the governance of the company. The management of the company is a collective that elaborates the strategies and determines their execution. The definition of the strategies and the decisions of them belong only to the management of this company. Since I assumed the position of chief executive, starting from the choice of [Claudio] Ranieri, up to the selection process of the new sporting director, passing through the appointment of the new coach, Paulo Fonseca, it all happened through a decision-making process managed and finalised by the management of this company.”

ON REVENUES AND COSTS

Fienga: “Revenues and costs for the fourth quarter will be in line with the previous quarter. The end of the year is a time for the sale of assets, or players. The idea is to maximise the return on assets, not sell assets because we have to. We only sell if the asset is not needed and we receive an offer that gets the most out of its value. We don't want our choices to be influenced by other factors.

“We're focused on increasing the competitive level of the team despite reviewing costs. As president Pallotta recently admitted, errors were made and that's why the overall costs of the team – wages and amortisation – have increased more than our competitive level has increased. We'll now try to invert those two factors – that is, increase our competitive level and bring the overall team costs back down to a level that is sustainable for the club while remaining highly ambitious.

“We're deeply committed to improving and we'll put everything into it. What can no longer be tolerated is that Roma – both within and outside Trigoria – be used as a vehicle for personal interest. Roma is an aspirational and serious club.”