The Mayor of Milan Beppe Sala has spoken at length about the new stadium situation following talks with AC Milan and Inter in recent days.
There has been a constant tug-of-war in the media between the two clubs and the administrative bodies involved in setting up the new stadium project after the Rossoneri and the Nerazzurri officially declared their desire to do so back in 2019.
Milan have since changed ownership and it seems as though Gerry Cardinale and RedBird Capital are already frustrated with the bureaucratic delays of building on the land next to San Siro and thus they are exploring a solution that involves constructing a new state of the art home for them alone.
Sala spoke in his podcast on Spotify about the new stadium plans of each club and took the opportunity to provide a full update on how things stand at the moment, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
“Obviously, I don’t expect everyone to share my vision, but today I would like to tell you my opinion on the stadium question, on the decisions of Milan and Inter and on the fate of San Siro,” he began.
“Simplified, this story begins with the change of ownership of Milan and Inter For the new properties, the question of budgets has become more stringent and, in their minds, the question of a new stadium means two fundamental things: 1) the possibility of increasing revenues and 2) the awareness that a football club can be sold at the moment of sell it more easily if this club owns a stadium or if it has at least a project approved by the Council to build a new one.
“When Inter and Milan came to me to start talking about the stadium, I immediately proposed to them to start a major restructuring of the San Siro, being absolutely willing to give them ownership of the stadium. But I have to acknowledge the teams who, very clearly, told me it was an option they couldn’t even consider.
“Then it is undeniable that the path took a lot of time both for the administrative procedure, the technical checks and because at the beginning the teams asked for volumetrics – i.e. the possibility of building hotels, offices, shopping centres – not compatible with the Council rules.
“Of course, to be honest, we cannot ignore the fact that a part of the City Council, including my political part, never really wanted the new stadium, especially if it were to involve the sacrifice of the old stadium.
“Once the question was that San Siro shouldn’t be demolished, then continuous requests to the teams to improve the project, from the distance of the houses to the capacity, the result of public debate and municipal councils, and so on. And this too is a historical truth.
“Just as it is a truth that, to date, the teams have not formally communicated to us the renunciation of the project on which they have been working together in the last period – i.e. the construction of a new stadium in the area of the current San Siro which would foresee demolition.
“The procedure is still ongoing and the teams have to respond to us formally. In the meantime, however, Milan have taken a precise step. Although informally, he communicated to us that he is evaluating a new option, located in the area called La Maura.
“This new location hypothesis means two things: going to build on another private and non-public land and disengaging from Inter. I don’t comment on this second thing, I only report it. The ownership has informed me that it needs three weeks to study a master plan that defines the intervention and which, from what I understand to date, would only concern the stadium and Casa Milan, not other buildings.
“And Inter? A hypothesis of location outside Milan is being filtered, but I have no confirmation in this regard. What I would like to make clear is that no one sends them away from San Siro, but I cannot take their place in the decisions that concern them.
“Finally, I believe that this long and still undefined story has only one great certainty: the two teams no longer want to stay at the San Siro and no one can force it to be restructured. For me, therefore, it is a duty to commit myself to the end so that an alternative solution is found in the Municipality of Milan.
“Then, if for any reason this does not happen, I want to be sure that I have done everything to make this happen, with all due respect to those who, at this moment, comment inappropriately without proposing a solution.
“The glorious times of Berlusconi and Moratti are over, even if we fans are a little nostalgic for them. Inter and Milan have loss-making budgets and are not philanthropic bodies: we must reach a solution that protects their interests and, at the same time, those of the city.”
This mayor talks too much, it’s only in Italy that there is much talk and less action. No wonder italy do not develop at all. At the core of their actions is self interest! They are so selfish that all they think about is themselves! What a shame.