Ignazio Marino: The ASR Stadium Project — Visions and Challenges

Abstract

A key highlight of Ignazio Marino’s administration was the new Roma soccer stadium project in Tor di Valle. Intended to be part of a privately managed development, it included entertainment, shopping, dining, a new team training facility, and an outdoor amphitheater.

Architects Dan Meis and Daniel Libeskind collaborated on the master plan, with Meis focusing on the stadium, and Libeskind designing the business park and three iconic skyscrapers. The estimated cost of the stadium was roughly €300 million, while the total, including surrounding infrastructure and business districts, was near €1 billion, all funded entirely by private international investors.

The plan was to break ground by the end of 2015 and open in 2017. Marino emphasized that the project would only be approved if the necessary transportation infrastructure was secured. The project faced delays, environmental concerns, and administrative issues, ultimately stalling after Marino left office. It was officially abandoned in 2021.

Biography

Ignazio R. Marino, Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University; Member of the European Parliament; Former Mayor of Rome

Born in Italy, he earned an M.D. degree from Catholic University and trained at the two most prestigious transplant centers in the world: Cambridge (UK) and the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1989, he accepted a position at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was appointed professor of surgery. At Jefferson, he is an emeritus professor and has previously served as director of the Division of Transplantation.

He has performed more than 650 transplants, was a member of the team that performed the only baboon-to-human liver xenotransplants in medical history, and carried out the first transplant in Italy on an HIV-positive patient. He has authored more than 780 papers.

In 2006, he was elected senator of Italy and appointed chair of the Health Committee and later of the Investigative Committee on the National Healthcare System. He was the Mayor of Rome between 2013 and 2015. Since 2024, he has been a member of the EU Parliament.