AC Milan and Inter’s stadium project took another small step forward on Tuesday, but next Monday is expected to be the key day.
As Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) recall this morning, a few hours before taking to the field against Lecce in the Coppa Italia, Milan – through a joint statement with Inter – announced yesterday that they had entrusted the design of their new stadium to a global architectural giant.
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Lord Norman Foster has got the job, together with the American firm MANICA. The latter specialise in the construction of sports facilities around the world, so now everything passes over to the City Council.
Votes and inspiration
While awaiting the vote from the City Hall, scheduled for Monday, the two clubs wanted to send a strong message to their fans by entrusting the project to those who jointly designed the new Wembley Stadium in London.
Wembley is a good comparison too because the original iconic stadium with the ‘twin towers’ was not renovated, but razed and rebuilt from the ground up. This is exactly what will happen to San Siro (only a small section will remain).
Paolo Scaroni spoke to Mediaset before the Lecce game and stated: “We want to have a stunning stadium, and that’s why we’ve chosen the best of international architecture. They built the new Wembley after demolishing the old one; they created a marvellous one. We want to do the same.”
The Rossoneri president has been following the new stadium project for years, but this time he’s optimistic that the finish line is truly within reach: “It’s a topic I’ve been working on for many years, at least 4-5 years. I feel like we’re on the home stretch, and I’m confident we’ll get there.
“I’m confident because ultimately, we need a new stadium for AC Milan, for Inter, for Milan, for international competitions, and I can’t imagine Milan not having a stadium where we can host cups, national teams, and everything UEFA requires of us, in addition, of course, to AC Milan and Inter.
Now the ball is in the City Council’s court, which on Monday must give final approval to the sale of San Siro to the clubs, so the project can really get moving forward.
I really liked the former cathedral suggestion for a new stadium which had a great look in my view. Hopefully the new one if ever built doesn’t look like the one in the picture further up as its basically an eyesore in my view.
I agree. The LA stadium looks extremely bad from the outside. But inside it is world class.
Not sure if I’ve seen it from inside but considering Italian history of architecture it would seem reasonable to me that they build something that compliments its surroundings which the Cathedral structure would have done. Anyways I’m sure they will take that into their considerations.
The problem is Gerry thinks that the American way is the best. They probably would prefer an abomination full of screens on the outside. So you can sell that space to sponsors but they can also change them in a few minutes. That is why I am not that against the local council being strict.
You actually has a great point about outside screens which I didn’t think of but yeah that seems like a real possibility it will be seen as an opportunity to earn some cash. I’m not from Milano or Italia myself but I do nevertheless understand that the local council has to take some sort of considerations at least to some extent but if I lived next to the stadium I certainly wouldn’t be happy about huge screens plastered outside my windows either. The stadium should basically lift the area and I also hope they will make some green areas as well and hopefully takes inspiration from example the Duomo which is an architectural marvel and even though I’m not religious by any extent I can nevertheless still enjoy the looks of it but guess we will just have to wait and see what they plan.
Its such a tragedy that two of italys biggest clubs cant even afford their own stadiums.
Even Everton who forever lives in the shadow of Liverpool can afford their own stadium.
Imagine the idea that Roma and Lazio would build a new one together? Or that Juve did it with Torino rather then on their own?
Well I would definitely prefer an AC Milan owned stadium as it should be in my view and San Siro was also originally owned only by us when it was built by Pirelli whos descendants then later on got affiliated with Inter. When that is said I wasn’t aware that Lazio and Roma was about to part ways in their shared stadium but did find some info on it so thanks for bringing it my attention. Juventus and Torino also shared stadiums previously so yeah it should be a possibility I guess Inter could go back to their real home Arena Civica 😀 I actually like the look of that old stadium from outside.
It’s not a matter of affordability, it’s common sense. Option 1 – you build a smaller stadium (i.e. less revenue) with full maintenance costs or Option 2 – bigger stadium (shared investments, so even if bigger, it’s still cheaper) where you actually generate more revenues and your maintenance costs are between 50-75% of the costs for Option 1.
It doesn’t work everywhere, e.g. fanbase of Torino and Juventus is not comparable – one can fill the stadium to maximum just from travelers, so it makes sense in this case to have a Juventus stadium. In all cases, ownership vs rent is the big progress in most cases in Italy.
And let’s not forget how fng impossible it is to build a stadium in Italy. No wonder the clubs wanted to join forces to battle the “millions” opposing the project.
That example made zero sense. Why would they build a smaller stadium by themselves if money isnt a problem? You do realise they both fill a stadium with 70 000 seats, so Milan wouldnt build a smaller ones by themselves? Neither would Inter. They would build one as big as they believe they can fill for every game, regardless of if they do it on their own or together.
Yes you share costs, but you also share the profits so the end result would be the same if splitt 50/50. 50% lower costs, 50% less profit.
Also, Milans management is much better then Inters commercially and would be able to bring better revenues to an own stadium then a shared one, (name rights, VIP tickers, boxes, other events outside football etc).
The only reason to build a shared stadium for Milan would be if they couldnt afford one on their own.