Milan’s San Siro stands as probably the most iconic stadiums in world soccer, but its age and outdated amenities go away it trailing behind the fashionable arenas many high European golf equipment now provide their followers.
Italy faces rising stress to improve its stadium infrastructure, fueled by international traders who’ve taken stakes in golf equipment like AC Milan and Inter Milan and by the necessity to ship world-class venues forward of co-hosting the 2032 European Championship with Türkiye, whose stadiums boast cutting-edge design and expertise.
However, golf equipment reminiscent of AC Milan, Inter, Lazio and Roma proceed to grapple with the challenges of renovating or rebuilding their stadiums, typically hampered by complicated negotiations with public authorities that personal these venues and by bureaucratic hurdles.
As a outcome, Italy has seen solely six stadiums constructed or modernized between 2007 and 2024, a stark distinction to Germany’s 19, England’s 13 and France’s 12, in response to consultancy agency PwC, highlighting the pressing want for Italy to catch up within the race for world-class soccer infrastructure.
“At the San Siro stadium, we can’t cook anything. The little food that we sell is all microwaved three minutes beforehand,” AC Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni advised a PwC Italy occasion in March.
He contrasted it to the state of affairs in Britain, the place Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium even options an in-built microbrewery “because the English like to drink beer, and we can’t even cook a plate of spaghetti.”
The Tottenham stadium, designed by specialist firm Populous, opened in 2019 at a value of round 1 billion kilos ($1.4 billion) and encompasses a retractable pitch. It additionally hosts different occasions reminiscent of NFL video games.
Government assist
The Italian authorities is making an attempt to assist, with a plan within the works to nominate a particular commissioner with energy to fast-track initiatives value 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) throughout totally different companies and velocity up preparations for Euro 2032, the primary main event in Italy for the reason that 1990 World Cup.
The Italia 90 event, when matches had been performed at 12 venues throughout the nation, marked the final time Italy launched into a critical spherical of stadium upgrades.
“For Italian teams, sports facilities are the real gap with European peers,” mentioned Luigi De Siervo, chief government officer of Italy’s top-flight soccer league Serie A. Although crowds have risen to ranges not seen for the reason that early 2000s, Serie A golf equipment generated simply 440 million euros in matchday income in 2023-24, in response to a report from Deloitte, lower than half of what England’s Premier League earned.
“More modern arenas structurally generate higher matchday revenues; they usually have a higher occupancy rate, more food outlets with different price ranges, and pricier tickets,” mentioned Cristian Celoria, companion at consultancy agency PwC.
Euro 2032 issues
Besides irritating membership house owners, Italy’s lack of progress in redeveloping its sporting infrastructure may hurt its position as a co-host of the Euros.
Italy should give European soccer’s ruling physique UEFA a listing of 5 stadiums to host Euro 2032 video games by October subsequent yr.
At current, among the many 10 arenas Italy named in its preliminary bid doc, solely Juventus’ stadium in Turin – one of many few club-owned grounds in Italy – is match for the event, in response to a UEFA official.
The 41,000-seat venue was accomplished in 2011, changing the Stadio delle Alpi, which was constructed for the 1990 World Cup.
Venues needing redevelopment or new builds may be included within the last Euro 2032 shortlist, however the initiatives have to be totally financed and accredited by subsequent yr’s deadline, mentioned the UEFA official, who requested to not be named.
“The need for a special commissioner is becoming even more urgent, as next year we will undergo a series of checks that may even result in some matches being reallocated to Türkiye,” mentioned De Siervo, the Serie A chief.
However, the Italian Football Association stays assured it could meet the deadline, with work underway in Bologna and Florence and scope to carry Rome’s Olympic Stadium and the present San Siro venue consistent with specs.
Fate of San Siro
The San Siro, with its placing spiral staircases wrapped across the exterior of the stadium, was one of many symbols of Serie A’s golden age within the Nineties, however very like Italian soccer usually, it has seen higher days.
AC Milan and Inter – owned by U.S. funding companies RedBird and Oaktree, respectively – have labeled a full revamp of the sector, formally often called the Giuseppe Meazza after a ahead who performed for each golf equipment within the Twenties-40s, as unfeasible.
AC Milan and Inter are in talks to collectively purchase the stadium, inbuilt 1926, and the encompassing space from the Milan municipality as a part of a 1.2 billion euro redevelopment together with an actual property undertaking.
The plan, first offered in 2019, envisages the golf equipment persevering with to make use of the 76,000-seat stadium till a brand new one is constructed close by. Once that’s prepared, the outdated floor can be demolished apart from a heritage part comprising a part of its second tier.
The golf equipment, nonetheless, face opposition from those that wish to protect one of many temples of Italian soccer.
“It is still a functional stadium. It can be modernized, and we have fought for that, but the problem is that no one is listening to our calls,” mentioned Luigi Corbani, president of a residents’ committee opposing the golf equipment’ demolition plans.
Even rock stars who love taking part in concert events within the large San Siro have chimed in.
“It is the greatest stadium in the world, it has personality, heart and soul,” Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist Steven Van Zandt, aka Little Steven, advised Italy’s Corriere della Sera each day, calling plans to knock it down “criminal.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com