New stadium 'will be our Colosseum'

(ANSA) - Rome, June 15 - A new stadium whose construction AS Roma is set to unveil Monday "will be our modern Colosseum," according to skipper Francesco Totti.
    "Our Roma will have a stadium which will represent it in the world, as our history deserves," Totti said ahead of the presentation of the plans for the Tor di Valle site in the south of Rome.
    "It will be our modern Colosseum, where all our fans and sports people will be able to enjoy a sporting spectacle with cutting-edge facilities which will make the game the high point of a day of sport and fun," he said. Roma recently said they are confident of starting work on the new ground by the end of this year.
    "We are on course to lay the first brick by the end of 2015 and open the stadium in 2017," said Mark Pannes, the three-time Italian champions' director for the stadium project, after a meeting with Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino.
    The American-controlled club have just obtained all the necessary authorizations for the plan to build a 52,500-seater stadium modelled on the Colosseum in the Tor di Valle neighbourhood.
    Roma currently pay the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) to use the Stadio Olimpico, which they share with city rivals Lazio and the national rugby team during the Six Nations.
    The project for the new stadium includes facilities for music and entertainment, including a 500-person stage in a Roma-themed restaurant, a 5,000-seat outdoor amphitheater and a 13,000-seat amphitheater within the Stadium.
    It will also be possible to host music concerts at the stadium itself, which will also be home to shops, bars and conference facilities.