Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis claims to have been informed that Liverpool and Roma have the “same owner”, and suggests they should be banned from both participating in the Champions League.
The notoriously outspoken film producer was giving a typically candid interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport (via Calcio Mercato) when he said: “I have the feeling that Roma and Liverpool have the same owner. I was told by somebody a few years ago and, if it was true, they would not be allowed to play in the Champions League.”
Regulations put in place by European football’s governing body state that ‘no two clubs or more participating in a Uefa club competition may be directly or indirectly controlled by the same entity or managed by the same person.’
Pallotta: ‘What do you think @ADeLaurentiis is smoking over there in Naples? If he finds that little bird again, he’ll find out we also own Barca and Bayern’
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) August 17, 2018
Fenway Sports Group own Liverpool, while James Pallotta, an American Businessman, has been the majority shareholder at Roma since April 2011. Pallotta responded to De Laurentius on Friday, saying: “What do you think De Laurentiis is smoking over there in Naples? If he finds that little bird again, he’ll find out we also own Barca and Bayern.”
(Photo credit PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Pallotta is a minority shareholder in the NBA team, Boston Celtics, while Fenway Group also owns the Boston Red Sox, an American Baseball team. When Liverpool and Roma met in last season’s Champions League semi-final, it was dubbed by the Italian media as the ‘Boston Derby’. However, as of today, there is no clear evidence that the two clubs have any shared ownership.
“I wanted to replace Sarri sooner”
In the same interview, De Laurentiis also touched on his relationship with new Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, adding: “It was hard to continue with Sarri, I wanted to replace him right away. I gave the impression that I wanted to extend his contract but I never wanted that. I sounded out Inzaghi and Giampaolo but then I thought it was fair to try Carletto because we are on very good terms. He is happy to be here because Serie A is competitive again.
“I’ve been waiting for Sarri’s call but luckily he never did it. I only spoke with his wife, who was defending his husband. I needed to make sure that I would not pay Sarri’s salary for two more years and I didn’t want Chelsea to tempt our players. And I succeeded in that.”
The post Roma dismiss Napoli president’s claims the Serie A club shares owner with Liverpool appeared first on Squawka News.
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