The President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, has cast further doubt on the stadium plans of AC Milan and Inter by questioning whether two new ones are really needed.
At the moment it feels like the stadium issue is operating on two fronts. The first is that Milan and Inter have made public their desire to explore building their own exclusive new homes in San Donato and Rozzano respectively.
The second involves the potential regeneration of the current San Siro, something that the clubs met with the City Council as well as construction firm WeBuild regarding last week and three different hypotheses emerged after.
One man who will have a big say is Attilio Fontana, the president of the Lombardy Region who will have to approve the plans if they fall outside of the City Council jurisdiction, whatever the plans are that are chosen.
He spoke to Orario Continuato on Telelombardia, with his comments relayed by Calciomercato.com, and was asked for his thoughts on how things are developing.
“A question that everyone asks, a problem and a concern for everyone. Where it is foreseen, the possible location of the two new stadiums of Milan and Inter is not Milano, but outside Milano in areas that are also very peripheral, in other municipalities,” he said.
“First of all, I believe there is a problem, which is that of wanting to build two stadiums. Even two stadiums for two teams, I fear it may be an exaggeration and that it cannot represent the utility that is instead in the clubs’ plans.
“Let’s start from the assumption that two teams like Milan and Inter need a modern stadium, which gives them the possibility of using it throughout the year, for other events and other performances and which can be a means to increase one’s budget, improve one’s balance sheet.
“Now the situation is very clear: Milan have declared that they want to continue with its San Donato project, Inter too, but with less determination.
“Now this new hypothesis has arisen: WeBuild, one of the most well-known companies of construction, among the most important in Italy, have told the clubs that they can manage the construction site and be able to renovate San Siro without preventing the two teams from playing there.
“This is certainly very good news. I know, for example, that Milan will want to give conditions to establish how the stadium should be built. I believe they have met and I am convinced that a project will emerge from these discussions, then the teams will evaluate whether this is compatible with their needs.
“I personally sincerely hope that an agreement, a solution, can be found to continue at San Siro. The Region is available for what the teams ask for, but I can only facilitate the administrative procedures only after their decision on where go.
“For me, the hypothesis of the new San Siro, next to the current one, could also be taken into consideration. Then, on the demolition of the stadium, this is another topic: for me San Siro is an icon, but there is practically nothing left of the real San Siro because with the work done in the 1990s it has already been altered compared to its original state.”
Didn’t this guy previously support ac milan in its attempt to build a new stadium so this seems a bit two-faced from where i stand.
Milan is big enough to have two big stadiums. Frankly, I don’t care what Inter does. We have a plan and I like it better then sharing with Inter, our stadium will change everything for us.
We have been trying to give you options for years now on how to replace San Siro, you failed collectively to understand your customer, and this is now the consequence.
Why complicate, you have the proposal from Inter and Milan, just approve that and you can save face. Why complicate matters with Webuild and so on….
these people really dont get it.
name 1 club (worldwide) who pays to play on a stadium at top lvl…
Inter 🤭🤭🤣🤣🤣😂