US BILLIONAIRE and AS Roma president James Pallotta agreed to pay a fine and apologised to Rome mayor Virginia Raggi on Wednesday after jumping into a city centre fountain to celebrate his team’s trouncing of Barcelona that evening.

Surrounded by a crowd of flag-waving Roma fans, Pallotta performed a backward somersault in his dress shirt and trousers into a fountain in the Piazza del Popolo.

Pallotta was ecstatic after Roma surprised Barcelona with a 3-0 win Tuesday night to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit in the Champions League quarterfinals.

Pallotta, the chairman of a private investment company who was part of the four-man US team that purchased Roma in 2011, is also a minority owner of the US basketball team Boston Celtics.

City ordinances call for a 500 euro (£436) fine for wading into historic fountains, small change for a billionaire.

“We spoke and he apologised,” Raggi said. “He did it in a moment of excitement but he realises the importance of the example he needs to provide. And clearly he’ll pay the fine.”

Pallotta was to see Raggi later yesterday for a previously scheduled meeting.

Roma is still seeking final approval to start construction on a new 56,000-seater, multimillion-euro stadium inspired by the Colosseum.