City Council

Milan, 'yes' to the sale of San Siro to Inter and Milan. Fi decisive

After almost 12 hours of consecutive discussion, the go-ahead was given late at night for the resolution on the sale of the Meazza stadium

by Sara Monaci

30 September 2025

Il sindaco di Milano Beppe Sala porta a casa l’ok del Consiglio comunale alla vendita di San Siro a Milan e Inter

5' min read

Key points

Swan Song for Milan-Cortina
Seven votes against in the majority
The ball is now in Milan and Inter's court.

5' min read

Milan says yes to the sale of San Siro. Late at night, the city council approved the deliberation for the sale of the stadium to Milan and Inter, whose €197 million bid would have expired today. The votes in favour of the majority were 24, enough to pass the document thanks to Forza Italia's decision to exit the Chamber, which lowered the quorum; the no votes were instead 20, with no councillors abstaining. All this while outside Palazzo Marino there was no shortage of protests, also in the light of the recent judicial affairs of the Milanese municipality concerning town planning. In the end, the 'yes' vote was possible thanks to a game of tactical alliances in the council, with Forza Italia coming to the rescue (though without giving an explicit 'yes' vote) of the Democratic Party, which was unable on its own to guarantee the necessary 25 votes.

Last night 239 amendments were tabled, some of which were accepted. Basically, the teams are asked for a few more resources for the city, leaving the direction to the city council; more action against organised crime, in addition to the planned regulations, with the establishment of white lists of companies involved in the work and the realisation of the project; EUR 14 million in environmental sustainability projects in addition to the carbon neutrality targets to be achieved in the city; a guarantee by the buyer of the adoption of measures for accessibility, inclusion and against all forms of discrimination, limiting any reclamation activities in the Captains' Park to a maximum of EUR 5 million. These are the main points proposed by the PD and approved by the Chamber.

Song of the Swan for Milan-Cortina

Just the time to host the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and the historic facility, a hundred years after its inauguration, will be demolished to make way for another, more modern and functional one, in time for the 2032 European Football Championship. Apparently signed by British architect Norman Foster. "We've tried to write a new page, and we're just at the beginning," said Deputy Mayor Anna Scavuzzo at the end of the almost 12-hour session, speaking of her "satisfaction with the prospect of transforming the San Siro area, about which there was concern for an uncertain future". Instead, the mayor, Giuseppe Sala, who remained in the Chamber throughout the session, postpones comments until the next few hours. "In 'salese', the slang of the city council, 'he told me "I'm happy,"' Scavuzzo reveals, now hoping that 'the majority doesn't lose its pieces, even if the passage was one of strong friction'.

Seven votes against in the majority

Of the 20 votes against the resolution, seven were those of the majority, in addition to those of the Lega, Fratelli d'Italia, Noi Moderati and a Forza Italia councillor, Alessandro De Chirico, who voted no in disagreement with the party line. Not taking part in the vote were the group leader of the Lista Beppe Sala Sindaco, Marco Fumagalli, who declared his intention to resign, and Manfedi Palmeri of the centre-right. In the course of the long debate there was no shortage of controversy, including from the majority and, above all, from the Greens, in particular for having chosen the cut-off method: a sub-amendment, when it was 3 a.m., caused most of the 239 amendments to fall. Only 25 had been discussed up to that point.

The ball is now in Milan and Inter

'When there are different positions that confront each other,' tried Deputy Mayor Scavuzzo, 'this is how dialectics works. We left the space to express ourselves and to make a decision, and the majority of this courtroom has expressed itself'. The floor is now passed to Milan and Inter. 'Now a non-trivial administrative matter begins,' Scavuzzo concludes, 'and it's up to the teams to play a part they have done too little of so far.

Of the historic stadium, only a piece of the curva Sud will remain, transformed into a museum to tell its story and that of the many champions who have performed at La Scala del calcio. All the rest will be demolished to make way for a modern 71,500-seat facility, with attached car parks, shops, restaurants and even a luxury hotel. In the almost three-hundred-page dossier that Inter and Milan presented to the Milan City Council in recent months, an investment of around 1.2 billion euro is mentioned, 700 million just for the construction of the new facility.

Part of an urban regeneration project of approximately 281,000 square metres, it will have two large rings, a historical memory of the 1950s project, with an inclination designed to guarantee optimal visibility from each sector. The structure will be built on a podium that will serve as access for fans. On days when there are no matches, this area will open up to become a large square integrated with the surrounding park and active 365 days a year.

Thus ends a debate that lasted over six years. Initially, the projects proposed by the companies were reviewed and 'limited' by the city council. Then everything came to a halt during the Covid years. When the discussion resumed in 2022, the opposition became even stronger and many called for the redevelopment of the old Meazza. So much so that the Webuild company in 2024 launched a possible feasibility project, donated to the city, to illustrate the possibilities of redeveloping the stadium. But cost and time never convinced the teams, who always rejected this possibility.

So in 2024, mayor Giuseppe Sala decided to propose the sale of the area, so that the project for a new stadium would also be matched by a redevelopment project for the neighbourhood, for which the buyers would have to take responsibility. No one participated in the tender except Inter and Milan. The expected costs are those indicated by the Agenzia delle Entrate, albeit with criticism from citizens' committees and the Greens, who consider the figure of 197 million too low. In 2025, meanwhile, an exploratory file has been opened by the Milan public prosecutor's office. It is no coincidence that the teams have imposed among the various clauses the suspension of the contract in the event of criminal proceedings.

For its part, the City Council imposed the 'earn out', the demand for a percentage of capital gains in the event of a sale to a third party before five years. The parties have agreed that on the collateral interventions - reclamation, construction of the deep green and redevelopment of the Patroclo tunnel - Palazzo Marino will intervene with 22 million. In addition, the construction of accommodation and commercial activities will be subject to implementation plans to be approved by the city council.

"We welcome with great satisfaction the decision of the City Council to authorise the sale of the San Siro stadium to Inter and Milan," said Alvise Biffi, President of Assolombarda. "This is a strategic step that paves the way for the construction of a state-of-the-art infrastructure, in line with international standards, destined to become a flywheel for the attractiveness and innovation of Milan. Assolombarda will soon host the presentation of the project with the top management of the two clubs'.