The CEO of Lega Serie A has claimed it would be a ‘catastrophe’ if the sale of San Siro to AC Milan and Inter were to fall through.
To give a brief timeline of events, Milan and Inter first announced a joint stadium project in 2019 with the aim of building a new home on the site of their current one. Then, the Rossoneri turned towards San Donato due to delays, before being roped into the joint project in the past year.
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Naturally, the obstacles are still present just as they were over six years ago. From an investigation into the City Council to disagreements over the price set to buy the current stadium, the road once again remains littered with hurdles.
Last chance saloon
Now, the CEO of Serie A has attempted to apply a bit of his own pressure. During an interview with Corriere della Sera, Luigi De Siervo spoke passionately about the problems that the two Milanese clubs are going through.
“A vote against the sale of the San Siro stadium would be a huge catastrophe. The 48 city councillors called to cast their votes have an enormous responsibility,” he said (via MilanPress).
“Preventing the sale of the stadium would not only cause immense damage to the city’s reputation but would also mean the loss of a historic opportunity for the city. This is the last chance Milanese politicians have to provide the city with a facility that lives up to expectations.
“Football is changing rapidly: in this historical phase in which TV rights have little room for growth, stadium revenue makes the difference. The profound transformation that social media has brought about is the desire to participate in the event from within and take photos at the match.
“The adequacy of the stadium is not just an experience to be enjoyed but a determining factor in increasing a club’s revenue; otherwise, the gap with the other leagues will widen. And our ability to catch up would become even more rarefied.
“The time is now, there is no more time. Otherwise, it would be a historic mistake to consign Milan and Italy to a state of inferiority compared to other international footballing realities. The urgency can no longer be postponed.
“Moreover, I don’t understand all the controversy surrounding the partial demolition of the Meazza. Wembley was demolished and rebuilt from scratch, continuing to fuel its own legend.
“Milan would lose the chance to have one of the three most important stadiums in Europe, alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. The Milan council’s wrong decision would consign Milan and Inter to a twilight phase in their histories that they don’t deserve.”
Preach
The idiocy that he preaches is astounding….
“in this historical phase in which TV rights have little room for growth, stadium revenue makes the difference.” ??? NO, Genius. The TV/Streaming room have little room to grow because you’re doing a p*ss-poor job marketing the league and selling the rights.
That’s why this is historical! Instead, you try to engage Social Media personalities that have nothing to do with Calcio to engage interest among their followers… Oh and who can forget your idiotic :Stop Piracy” campaigns….
Try doing a better job selling the rights to countries with massive markets, like INDIA for example. A billion people! In some of the countries you have sold rights to, viewers don’t even know how to access the platforms to view your product. That’s ON YOU, for not ensuring your product is properly marketed/displayed.
So you, maybe STFU about the stadium and focus on cleaning up your own messes. Good Lord, this triggers me so much.
Amen. Another idiot blaming anybody but him. I can’t wait to see his face when Super League will be real. Anyway he won’t be much worried, these guys have nice golden parachutes.
Honest to God, man – this village mentality is so prevalent across Serie A and FIGC. Old dinosaurs holding on to power and money while the National Team is struggling, the League is light years behind in relevance and profitability and clubs don’t have the purchasing power to attract better talent and can’t be allowed to build stadiums without a proper soap opera to overcome.
Get. Out. Of. Your. Own. Way.
Agree the league isn’t marketing itself well but also everything else he said is so true, the stadium issue is a huge problem for Italy and really highlights how idiotic and petulant the country is when it comes to modernizing and developing 21century infrastructure. 30 years of brain drain and these fools are all that’s left. I’m another 30 the EU will be the only thing propping the country up
Serie a need to do what epl did.
Appeal to asian market.
The problem is the match time in serie a mostly after midnight in asia.
Only hardcore fans would stay up late or wake up in the middle of the night to watch the matches.
It also happens to Spain league, but at least they have 2 household names in real madrid and barcelona.
Ucl also played after midnight in asia but that’s a different story since it’s UCL.