Roma Legend Falcao Urges Club Owners to Show Greater Presence
Paulo Roberto Falcao has called on AS Roma's owners, the Friedkin family, to adopt a more visible and physically present role at the club. The Brazilian icon, who played for Roma between 1980 and 1985, made the comments in an interview with Italian news agency ANSA, highlighting a perceived distance between the American ownership and the team's supporters.
Falcao stressed that while remote ownership necessitates delegating responsibilities, it is insufficient on its own. "The ownership must stay as close as possible, also physically, to the team and the fans," he said. "Those who live far away have the task of choosing the most adequate person to follow the society, but it is not enough. You have to go to the stadium: if the fans see the owner, they will feel him closer." His remarks come amid a period of transition for the Giallorossi, who are working under new head coach Daniele De Rossi following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho earlier this season.
The Friedkin Group, led by Dan Friedkin, completed its takeover of Roma in 2020. While the ownership has invested significantly in the squad and is overseeing the development of a new stadium project, their operational base in the United States has occasionally been a point of discussion among the club's passionate fanbase. Falcao's intervention taps into a broader sentiment regarding the symbolic importance of ownership presence in Italian football culture, where proximity to the team and its supporters is highly valued.
In the same interview, Falcao also commented on the potential appointment of Giovanni Malagò as president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Falcao, who knows Malagò from his own time at Roma, endorsed the candidate, describing him as a competent friend and "the right man to lead Italian football out of its current crisis." Furthermore, the former midfielder expressed strong confidence in the Brazilian national team, managed by his friend Carlo Ancelotti, predicting they will win the next World Cup due to their formidable attackers and superior coach.
Falcao remains a revered figure at the Stadio Olimpico, remembered as a key component of the thrilling side that challenged for the Serie A title in the early 1980s and finished as runners-up in the European Cup in 1984. His words carry considerable weight within the Roma community, and his public advice to the ownership is likely to resonate with segments of the supporter base as the club navigates its future both on and off the pitch.
