Totti Angrily Resigns As Roma Director
By Max Wise
AS Roma legend Francesco Totti has angrily resigned as director of the club in an explosive press conference that lasted more than an hour on Monday.
Totti’s exit brings to an end a 30-year association with the club where he made 785 appearances as a player and scored 307 goals; both club records.
Totti retired from football in 2017 and moved to become club director afterwards but will step down from the role after disagreements with the club’s owners.
AS Roma finished last season in sixth position in the Italian Serie A, missing out on a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
The club sacked manager Eusebio di Francesco in March following their exit at the hands of FC Porto in the Champions League, replacing him with Claudio Ranieri until the end of the season.
Former Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca has been contracted to manage the club from next season.
Totti said at the press conference announcing his exit: "I never had the chance to express myself. I was never involved in a genuine technical project.
"In the first year, that can happen. In the second, I realised what I wanted to do and we never got together, never helped each other.
"They knew my intentions and what I wanted, to give so much to this club and team, but they never wanted me to, in all honesty. They excluded me from every decision.
"I will now take other paths. At the moment another club owner wants to trust in me, I'll always be ready.
"I am not here to point the blame towards one or the other. We had started a journey, it was not respected, so I am moving on.
"Everyone knows they made me stop playing. I had a six-year contract already as a director. I started quietly, realising it's a completely different sphere to being on the field. Many promises were made and they were never kept.
"The main focus of certain people has been to remove Romans from Roma. Over the last eight years, since the Americans came in, they tried in every possible way to shove us to one side.
"As the years went on, they tried everything they could… It's what they wanted and in the end, they succeeded.
"What I can say is that I will never hurt Roma. This is far worse than retiring as a player. Leaving Roma is like dying. I feel like it'd be better if I died."
