One thousand officers deployed for Roma derby and tennis championships

Pietro Mezzaroma, the construction magnate who briefly co-owned AS Roma in 1993, died on 4 August at the age of 91. Mezzaroma entered Roma's ownership on 2 June 1993 as part of a rescue effort to save the club after president Ciarrapico's arrest left the organisation in severe financial distress. Alongside Franco Sensi, he became part of a two-headed ownership structure, but the arrangement proved difficult to sustain given both men's commanding personalities. By November 1993—a span of only a few months—Mezzaroma stepped aside with characteristic dignity, allowing Sensi to take full control. "It is an act of responsibility," Mezzaroma said of his involvement, words that reflected his lifelong preference for action over rhetoric. Mezzaroma's life story embodied post-war Roman reconstruction. Starting as a carpenter alongside his father, he rose to become a major property developer whose company, Impreme (Imprese Mezzaroma), shaped the Capital's expansion across districts including Cinecittà, Torrino, San Basilio, and the EUR. He felt duty-bound to repay the city that had enabled his success as an entrepreneur. During his brief months at Roma, he applied the same meticulous attention to club affairs that had built his business, overseeing the youth academy where his son Massimo worked and where a young Francesco Totti was emerging. Though he departed Roma's ownership structure, he remained a devoted, if superstitious, supporter—so affected by Roma's 1984 European Cup final loss to Liverpool that he avoided attending matches thereafter, fearing he brought bad luck. He is survived by four children: Barbara, Valentina, Alessandra, and Massimo, who went on to lead Siena and AS Roma Volley.

Nahuel Molina will land at Rome's Ciampino Airport on 10 August 2026 at 18:25 to complete his move to AS Roma. The Argentine defender, who begins his new adventure with head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, returns to Serie A following his previous spell at Udinese, which launched him towards larger clubs including Atlético Madrid. Molina completes his transfer after resolving all administrative details and securing his European Union passport. He joins Roma as a new reinforcement under Gasperini's stewardship, bringing experience from both Italian football and Spanish elite football. The defender's arrival marks a fresh chapter at the club after his vacation period following the World Cup.

Roma's 3–0 defeat to Brighton two days ago fits a familiar pattern in Gasperini's pre-season preparation, a time of deliberately intense physical demands that typically produces poor results in August before the campaign begins. The coach and his staff design the summer workload with meticulous detail to ensure the squad reaches peak condition by the opening day of the season, a process that has consistently included a dip in form in the two weeks immediately before the league starts. This is not an isolated incident. Last summer, on 6 August 2025, Roma suffered a 4–0 loss away to Aston Villa with the season set to begin two weeks later. The pattern repeated at Atalanta, Gasperini's previous club. On 4 August 2024, during his final season in Bergamo, Atalanta lost 4–1 to Parma before winning 4–0 against Lecce on the opening day. Further back, on 5 August 2023 during Atalanta's Europa League–winning campaign, the side conceded four goals to Union Berlin while scoring one, then opened their Serie A campaign with a 2–0 win over Sassuolo. These results demonstrate that for Gasperini's squads, August defeats reflect the athletic peak of pre-season work rather than genuine weakness—a negative period designed to deliver physical fitness by the time the new season kicks off in a couple of weeks.