One of the world’s most famous stadiums is set for demolition after Milan city hall early yesterday approved the sale of the San Siro, nicknamed soccer’s La Scala, to the city’s two soccer giants.
Inter and AC Milan had both threatened to abandon the city had the sale not been approved after having looked at sites in nearby suburbs.
More than 11 hours of debate at city hall ended with 24 votes in favor of the sale for 197 million euros (US$231.5 million) and 20 against — enough for Italy’s economic capital to decree that Inter and AC Milan would become owners of the iconic stadium and adjacent land.
Photo: AFP
Confirmation of a vote in favor of the resolution did not come until nearly 4am after a long night that included discussion of a raft of proposed amendments.
In the end, Inter and AC Milan, both owned by US investment funds, and Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala got what they wanted after years of uncertainty over a 1.2 billion euro project.
The clubs proposed the purchase of the site to the city in March after a previous project in which the land remained public was abandoned in 2023.
Photo: AFP
As long as the sale is completed by Nov. 10 — when a public building protection order preventing the demolition of the San Siro comes into effect — Inter and AC Milan would take control of just over 28 hectares of public land in a densely populated area on the western outskirts of Milan. It is on the land to the immediate west of the San Siro, currently occupied by matchday car parking and a local park, where a modern 71,500-capacity arena would be built. Once the new ground is constructed, San Siro would be almost entirely demolished to make way for new parkland, office space and entertainment facilities with everything to be designed by architectural firms Foster and Partners and MANICA.
It would still be some years before the bulldozers come for the current San Siro, where Inter and AC Milan would continue to play their matches to crowds of up to 75,000 until 2031 when the clubs hope to have the new stadium finished.
The clubs and Sala were helped by the abstention of councilors from the right-wing Forza Italian party founded by deceased Italian prime minister and ex-AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi.
The other opposition parties, the hard-right League and Brothers of Italy, voted against the proposal, as did a number of councilors from the left-leaning majority which backs Sala’s local government.
There has been anger across the political spectrum in Milan at what councilors see as a bypassing of local democracy, with Sala trying to avoid being the mayor who allowed two of the world’s biggest soccer clubs to leave Milan.
The proposal was criticized by some members of the council for not containing any details of the development of the new stadium and surrounding area, while the price was also blasted as being too low for a prime area of real-estate.
The vote would please the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), as Milan is one of the potential candidates to hold matches at UEFA Euro 2032, which is set to be jointly hosted by Italy and Turkey.
The FIGC needs to communicate to UEFA its five official picks for hosting stadiums by October next year, when it can present new stadiums or ones which need to be redeveloped as long as works begin by March 2027.
Only one of Italy’s 14 potential candidates — Juventus’ Allianz Stadium in Turin — is currently in line with the criteria set by European soccer governing body.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS