Stadio della Roma Receives Approval From Rome City Council

I suppose it's somewhat fitting that red is the color of Rome, because Roma's grand new home, the Stadio della Roma, has had to cut an awful lot of red tape as it slowly eeks its way towards an actual existence. Despite their performance over the weekend, Monday still brought cause for celebration among the red and gold contingent in the Eternal City.

The Stadio della Roma was given formal approval by the Rome City Council to progress as planned, finally being earmarked as a "project of public interest". The full press release can be found here (pdf), but here are the pertinent details:

Thanks to a dedicated team of national and international experts, a direct investment worth around 1.2 billion euro will result in a privately financed Stadio della Roma that can create a minimum of 3.000 jobs during the construction phase and at least that many (3.000) during the on-going operations of the complex. Representatives of A.S. Roma SPV, LLC and Eurnova express their satisfaction for this important achievement and confirm the commitment towards the Italian economy and business environment, considering Stadio della Roma as a project able to reboot the spirit and energy of the great City of Rome and its citizens.

Despite these good tidings, the project has one final bureaucratic hurdle to clear, approval form the Regione Lazio, but today's news seems to make that a mere formality.

Those involved with the project remain optimistic that Roma's new home will be ready for play in 2017, when Francesco Totti will be 41-years-old, so keep your fingers crossed.