Commentary

By Alessandro Cataldi | Edited by Victoria Vega

Football in Italy is not just a sport; it is passion, entertainment, and, above all, a religion. Which is why, when it comes to football, Rome is deemed by many fans as a “hot spot,” a place where demands are high, and every game is lived through visceral emotion.  

Both Lazio and Roma are going through a period of change, however “I Biancoazzurri” (Lazio) seems to have found stability after the departure of players like Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson and Ciro Immobile.  

Giallorossi (Roma), on the other hand, have had a rather complicated start to the season. 

To begin, until a week before the end of the transfer window, Paulo Dybala, arguably Roma’s best scorer, was on the verge of leaving the club to join Arabian team, Al-Qadsiah. After a surprising turn of events, the Argentine decided to stay with the capital, thus sparking joy among the Roma fans, who had threatened the club team’s owners to desert the stadium just days earlier.  

Following the series of dramatic events, some fans heavily insulted Roma legend and coach Daniele De Rossi, accusing him of having had a role in what could’ve been Dybala’s departure. In addition to that, the results on matches were not encouraging either, as Roma tied with Cagliari and Juventus at away games, wherein not one goal was scored, and lost at a home game against Empoli.  

After the 2-week international break, Roma had to play against Alberto Gilardino’s managing team, Genoa, away from home. Roma played a brilliant first half, leading the home side by one goal, making the score 1-0. However, in the last minute of added time, Belgian defender Koni De Winter headed a cross from Vitinha into the net, making it 1-1.  

After four games, Roma was sitting eighteenth in the Serie A table rank, with three points, two scored goals and no wins in thirteen official matches.  

Then, on September 18^th, Dan and Ryan Friedkin (owners of the club) made a shocking decision: Daniele De Rossi was fired with immediate effect.    

Many Roma fans expressed their disbelief on social media, saying that firing a manager after only four games into the season—and renewing his employment contract just two months prior—was somewhat illogical, to say the least. Others came before Trigoria (AS Roma’s training center) to say goodbye to the Roman legend, accompanying him with cheers and chants in his honor.  

After hours of speculation, it was Ivan Jurić, former manager of Torino, Verona and Genoa, to take over the job. However, the emotions invoked by De Rossi’s dismissal were still too fresh, and the fans were anything but happy.  

According to fans, the problem lies in the owners’ lack of vision. Roma bought players requested by De Rossi, spending 100 million euros in the process. Furthermore, they prolonged De Rossi’s contract by three years, including a salary of three million euros per year, to which they are still bound. Firing De Rossi is, therefore, seen as a significant step back, not only because of his legendary status among the Roma fan base but also because of the economic weight of his departure. 

Ivan Jurić then signed his contract at Trigoria right afterward, with fans outside the sporting center calling for the players’ and owners’ heads. Three days later, the Italian news agency Adnkronos revealed that the club’s CEO, Lina Souloukou, was a significant player in deciding De Rossi’s dismissal. As a result, the CEO received several threats both privately and on banners appearing around the city. Ultimately, Souloukou had to be put under police protection due to the massive influx of threats.  

Twenty-four hours later, she resigned, citing her concern for the safety of her two children, who are eight and five years old.  

The very same day Roma played against Udinese during a home match, but the atmosphere was far from welcoming. The Curva Sud, the most passionate branch of the Roma fan base, decided to protest the owners’ decision by entering the stadium 30 minutes after the beginning of the game. The rest of the fans booed their favorite players and chanted for one man only: Daniele De Rossi.  

Roma won that game by scoring three goals against Udinese.   

On September 23, the club’s owners issued a statement on the official AS Roma website, stating that, although firing De Rossi was a tough decision, they considered it necessary to win trophies in the near future. In addition, they reassured fans by defining them as “the soul of the club” and claiming that their ultimate goal was to make the fans proud. 

Nonetheless, the Roma fan base continues to protest by placing banners against the owners around the city and staying silent during the first minutes of a game, as they did during the matches against Athletic Bilbao and Venezia.  

As previously stated, football in Italy, especially in Rome, is a passion rooted within society that it is lived with visceral emotion. The fans live for their team, both on and off the field. 

Although it sounds exaggerated, for many, this is what matters at the end of the day.