Totti Chose Basketball Over Managing the Italian National Team

Former Roma legend Francesco Totti revealed that he chose to take on the role of advisor for the new and ambitious basketball club Maxima Roma, rather than assuming a role in rebuilding his national football team, the Azzurri, which is mired in crisis after failing once again to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Speaking during his official introduction, Totti said, “I received offers in the world of football, but I was not truly convinced by them. I also met President Giovanni Malagò, who was elected in late June to head the Italian Football Federation, and we had a good conversation, but Paul (Matiasich, owner and president of Maxima Roma basketball) was more persuasive and also more direct.”

He added, “It’s a bit strange to find myself here. I come from another world, but when I met Paul, whom I didn’t know, he needed only ten minutes to convince me.”

The former Roma top scorer (307 goals) continued, “I found myself part of the project from the very first moment.”

Totti, who ended his playing career in 2017 after 25 seasons with Roma, currently serves as an advisor at Maxima Roma, a club aspiring to compete in the NBA Europe league.

Smiling, he said, “Why did I choose basketball instead of football? Because they gave me importance and made me feel like part of a project.”

Totti will celebrate his 50th birthday on the 27th, which coincides with Maxima Roma’s first match in the Italian first division.

For his part, Paul Matiasich, the Italian-American businessman who purchased the rights to Brescia to launch a new team in Rome, affirmed, “Totti is not just an ambassador or a mere promotional figure; he is a genuine part of our project.”

He added, “I’m not joking when I say he is our leader, because he understands the city of Rome better than any of us.”

Although Rome is quintessentially a football city, it has not had a team in Italy’s top-tier basketball league (Serie A) since 2020. This season, however, it will host two teams: Maxima Roma and BC Roma, which is co-owned by Los Angeles Lakers star Slovenian Luka Dončić.

Despite Matiasich avoiding direct discussion of the matter, both clubs aim to join the NBA Europe project, which is scheduled to bring together teams representing the capitals and major cities of the European continent starting in 2027.