Roma CEO: Petrachi Suspension Was Inevitable

What? You didn't think this was a one-off story, did you? Less than 24 hours after officially suspending him, Roma's embattled Director of Sport, Gianluca Petrachi, has refused to gently into that good night by simply walking away from his position. Meanwhile, Roma's CEO and new day-to-day chief, Guido Fienga, elaborated on the club's decision to suspend Petrachi.

Let's first start with Fienga, the man with his finger on the trigger. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport (translation via Football italia), Fienga described the suspension as “inevitable”

We don’t believe that Roma are getting hurt. We are convinced in our project of growth and rely on men who know how to interpret it...We would have liked to avoid the decision to suspend the sporting director, but evidently it was inevitable, having broken a relationship of trust, which is the basis of any relationship.

Petrachi has participated in the development of this project but a misalignment of the roles and the relationship with the management at the club had become evident, especially in the latest public and private externalisations.

In any case, the misalignment does not concern the transfer market issues at all.

Believe me, we would have preferred to avoid such a decision one week after the resumption of the season, especially considering the effort we made to resume.

Obviously, it wasn’t possible.

Late last week word broke that the potential signing of Chelsea’s Pedro caused a rift in Roma’s front office, but, well, there you have it—this suspension had nothing to do with a disagreement over transfer plans.

That's the good news (in a perverted way, I guess) but the “misalignment of the roles and relationship with the management at the club”...yikes. If that doesn't point towards a power struggle between Petrachi and the rest of Roma's front office, I don't know what does. Throw Franco Baldini into the mix, and it's pretty easy to see how this arrangement could be come untenable rather quickly.

On the receiving end of this news is Petrachi, who, according to Il Messaggero, is refusing to simply walk away from his post and may consider his legal options. After forgoing the chance to apologize to James Pallotta for his offensive/upsetting texts, Petrachi may have forced the club's hand into this suspension.

Il Messaggero goes on to report that the club has offered Petrachi a resignation in lieu of termination arrangement, one which Petrachi is reportedly unwilling to accept and may pursue Roma in court.

And, as if alllllll of this weren't bad enough, Fienga made the cardinal Roma executive sin: speaking in absolutes: {Edit: I'm aware a longer version of the interview is now available and that he was answering a question framed this way}

I believe Roma showed already last summer that we are not a supermarket, as many described us...Our goal is to keep the best players and collaborations to help our growth.

The answer lies in the concepts explained. Let’s have Nicolò and Lorenzo find a response to their ambitions here.

That’s the most correct way to motivate our players and show them that their future will forever be in Rome.

We can't fault Fienga for trying to pump up Roma (that's part of his job after all) but the decisions made since Pallotta took over—nine managers, several directors of sport and countless sales of their best players—run counter to the very philosophy Fienga is espousing.

While I'm sure we'd all love to know what Petrachi's texts said, Fienga's comments paint his impending dismissal as a fait accompli. Given the club's financial woes, Pallotta's absenteeism and all the voices filling his ears, the odds were probably always stacked against Petrachi making a long and lasting impact with AS Roma.

Who steps up next is anyone's guess, but you can be almost 100% certain that it won't be Walter Sabatini—there's no way he comes back unless the club is sold—but we're staring another summer of MASSIVE upheaval in the Eternal City.

Oh, yeah...Roma play in five days.