Newsdesk - Fresh Talks on Roma Future; Japan Coach Eyes Olympics; Mawhinney Role

(WFI) Talks over the future of AS Roma will continue today between the Sensi family and UniCredit, Italy’s largest lender.

Club president Rosella Sensi, whose family has owned Roma since 1993, may be forced to part with the club as her Italpetroli holding company struggles with debts of €400million ($500million).

UniCredit currently owns 49 per cent of Italpetroli, whose main business is the storage and handling of oil products.
It is understood that the bank are reluctant to take control of the club, but may be forced to become interim owners while new owners are sought.

Talks on Monday were suspended until this evening as the two parties struggled over the finer details of a deal on the club’s future.

Roma finished surprise runners up to Serie A champions Inter Milan last season, but their near miss was set against a background of heavy debts.

Rome’s mayor, Gianni Alemanno, has expressed concern about the uncertainty over the club’s future.

"This is the most delicate time,” he told Corriere dello Sport.

“If Roma in fact becomes the property of a bank, we will need to be careful to ensure that the team and the club are preserved."

The mayor said he had "spoken with Unicredit several times" but acknowledged that he could not “interfere” with a club listed on the Italian stock market.

“If there are favourable circumstances for other buyers we will highlight them, but we will always seek to confirm that they are focused on the team and on its ability to do well in the next championship."

New Japan Manager Eyes London Olympics

Takeshi Okada’s successor as Japanese national manager is likely to lead the country to the London Olympics as well as have responsibility for qualifying for the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

Japanese Football Association President, Motoaki Inukai, described the prospect of having two coaches as “unnatural”, as Chile manager, Marcelo Bielsa, and former Argentina manager, Jose Pekerman, have been linked to Okada’s former-post.

“It’s just unnatural to have two different coaches for those events [the Olympics and World Cup]. It’s better to have one coach and one coaching method,” Inukai was quoted in local media.

“The JFA technical committee will do an assessment of the World Cup once it finishes and will draw conclusions on what the Japan team lacks, how to make it stronger and on what sort of team it should be.

“After drawing such conclusions, we will negotiate with candidates for the next Japan coach.”

He added that he hoped a successor would be in place next month.

New role for Mawhinney

The National Football League (NFL) today announced the appointment of Brian Mawhinney, the former chairman of the Football League, as Special Advisor to NFL International.

Mawhinney, an England 2018 bid board member, retired from his ole with the Football League earlier this year.

“As a long-time NFL fan it is an honour to be linked with NFL International in this way,” said Mawhinney.

“The sport is developing impressively in this country and I look forward to aiding that process.”


By INSIDER’s James Corbett.

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