Roma sale to go through in one month, Riise says sorry

ROME: Roma are due to be sold to American investors in 30 days, the club’s current owners Italpetroli announced on Tuesday.

A consortium led by the Italo-American Thomas DiBenedetto, owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, will purchase the Serie A side for 200mil, according to a figure given by the Italian press.

“It has been decided to procede to a period of exclusive negotiation with the DiBenedetto AS Roma LLC company which has presented the most competitive offer we have received,” Italpetroli, the company owned by the Sensi family, said.

The Sensi family, for whom Rosella Sensi is the Roma club president, owes money to Unicredit bank and in July 2010 entered an agreement giving the bank the right to sell its assets, amongst them Roma, to recoup the debt.

Meanwhile, “crisis” and “nightmare” were phrases bandied about by media yesterday to describe Roma’s defeat, with John Arne Riise’s slip for the third goal seen as symptomatic.

The last-16 first leg loss at home came after three games without a win in Serie A while the likely sale of the indebted club to an American consortium has added to the uncertainty surrounding under-fire coach Claudio Ranieri’s future.       

Ranieri has vowed not to quit and Riise, whose mistake let in Luiz Adriano for the Ukrainians’ third goal, tried to take the blame.

“I feel bad, my error was incredible. The fans are angry with me and I say sorry to everyone, team-mates included,” said Riise.       

“I was ready to come back on but Ranieri told me I was coming off, I think for the error. I hope the fans know that I always give everything.”