Italian first division leaders AS Roma are to forge ties with Manchester United and America's most famous baseball team the New York Yankees. The announcement was made by the Serie A club's president Franco Sensi in an Italian newspaper interview today.
Last month United and the Yankees agreed a pioneering business alliance and now Sensi claims the fine detail of a new agreement involving his team is now being discussed.
"In this period we have had contacts with Manchester United and also the New York baseball side, the Yankees, to affiliate and profit from our products," Sensi told the paper. "The negotiations are very far advanced. I think the only outstanding issue to conclude is merchandising."
Sensi admits that in merchandising Italy still has a lot to learn from England and the United States.
In those countries fans don their bodies in the colours of their favourite teams with replica shirts and baseball caps.
In Italy - even though the support for football is equally fanatical - the wearing of such items is seen as something of a fashion aberration and even at the Stadium a discretely worn scarf is often the biggest sartorial commitment a fan will make to his team.
"Here in Italy we must consider we lack the tradition in this sector and especially there is also the problem of counterfeit goods," said Sensi. "However we are expanding in this sector and within a year in Rome we will open two more Roma megastores."
Sensi also took comfort from a recent CNN poll that said Roma was the world's fifth most important football club after Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich. - AFP
