Roma’s plans to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the Italian capital have been held up by bureaucratic red tape following a meeting of the local municipal planning committees.
The Giallorossi’s American owners had hoped to have the new 52,500 capacity arena open for the start of the 2016-17 season, but that now looks unlikely after city officials failed to grant permission to break ground early next year.
A joint meeting of the cities planning authorities, consisting of the Environment, Sport, Public Works and Transportation committees was held on Wednesday, but it failed to achieve the minimum number of votes required to approve the start of construction in the spring. The committee members have insisted that they acted in the public’s interest during the meeting.
As a result of this decision, the construction of the stadium is set to be delayed and the project will almost certainly not be finished in time for its first match in 2017.
Most football grounds in Italy are owned by the local authorities and notoriously complicated bureaucracy has been an obstacle for other clubs hoping to construct their own stadia.
