Football

Milan stadium, Inter and AC Milan say no to San Siro renovation

The proposal of the two clubs is to return to the idea of a new stadium in the San Siro area, but the constraints imposed by the municipality must be taken into account

by Sara Monaci

13 September 2024

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Stadio Milano, Sala: "Squadre rinunciano a ristrutturazione San Siro"

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Key points

Inter and Milan's no
Barbara Berlusconi, comedy that humiliates Milan
The future of the stadium
The story

4' min read

Friday morning's meeting at Palazzo Marino between Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala, Giorgio Furlani, AC Milan's CEO, and Alessandro Antonello, Inter's corporate CEO (together with Katherine Ralph of the Oaktree fund) on the renovation of the San Siro stadium did not lead to a positive solution. For the two teams, staying in the Milan area means building a new stadium, while also using the surrounding land to develop commercial activities and make real estate investments.

A few weeks ago, in the middle of summer, the construction company Webuild presented its renovation project: 350 million investment for a 70,500-seat stadium.

The no of Inter and Milan

The teams, however, said no to this possibility. So we are back to the distant hypothesis of renovating San Siro, which became the subject of public debate in 2018, and taking possession of the surrounding areas. Hypothesis on which the mayor has given some openness while inviting caution with respect to the constraints imposed by the Superintendence of Architectural Heritage.

"The agreement and unity of purpose of the two teams is very strong and this is a positive thing. The two teams have made lengthy analyses of technical and economic feasibility with respect to the hypothesis of renovating San Siro, starting from the WeBuild project but trying to verify the realistic hypothesis of renovation. After lengthy analyses they came to the conclusion that it is not renovatable, or at least not affordable, and that they therefore do not consider the San Siro hypothesis, as it had been thought in recent months, feasible. Their proposal is to return to the idea of a new stadium in the San Siro area". So said the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala at the end of the meeting with Giorgio Furlani, Alessandro Antonello and Katherine Ralph.

Barbara Berlusconi, comedy that humiliates Milan

'The stadium affair is humiliating for a city like Milan, a symbol of modernity, innovation and which has always been ahead of its time. A real Italian comedy made on purpose to decide nothing'. This was stated by Barbara Berlusconi to ANSA, after Inter and Milan decided that San Siro could not be renovated, as announced by Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala. "Months have been lost in order to ascertain the obvious: that is, the fact that San Siro is not in fact renovatable, because the eventual costs are unsustainable and a long way from the figure that had been presented," the former AC Milan adman added. "We have gone back to the 2019 proposal. It is discouraging to note that, as in the game of the goose, we always return to the starting point'.

The future of the stadium

On the future of the San Siro stadium, Sala said, Inter and AC Milan top management have made three requests. They want to know "what is the value of San Siro and the adjacent areas, on which we expect an initial assessment from the Agenzia delle Entrate in the next few days, so that there is no intention to speculate on that value; then they want to understand in detail how much and how the superintendence's constraint affects the change of ownership - a meeting with the superintendence will be held next week on this matter; and thirdly, the timing of the operation, the moment when the clubs can become owners of the stadium and the area". Sala stressed, however, 'that we are not starting from scratch, but from a series of acts already done and a precise expression of the will of the city council,' he concluded.

Acts that put several stakes on the teams, however. Six years ago, talk began about the possibility of building a new structure in the San Siro area, with an investment by AC Milan of 600 million. The football club had even presented its possible project (the 'Cathedral'), but it was immediately clear that part of the city was hostile. In the city council, even a reworked project with greater attention to greenery and the building limits imposed by the Pgt had passed by a hair's breadth: only 23 votes in favour and a few abstentions, with a split majority and a recovery of votes from the centre-right opposition. Support on the line, too risky for the teams. And so everything came to a halt.

The club representatives then began to evaluate other hypotheses at the beginning of 2024, the construction of a stadium for each team in neighbouring areas: AC Milan bought land in the municipality of San Donato, for 40 million, while Inter carried out verifications in Sesto San Giovanni.

The affair

For some months now, however, the San Siro hypothesis has been back on track, precisely because Webuild had put forward the hypothesis of a feasible renovation plan. Now the binding issue, in the form to be defined, is that the stadium becomes the property of the teams. This is a significant fact, considering that to date the stadium is owned by the municipality and the teams pay an annual rent of between 8 and 10 million per year, partly realised through maintenance. Now things should change, even if, as Sala reiterated, a project of this kind should take into account the indications and urban limits imposed by the municipality.

A year ago, therefore, AC Milan attempted to go down the road of a new construction on the grounds of La Maura, an undeveloped green area in the north-west of Milan. But the environmentalist opposition in this case became even stiffer.

Weeks ago, Milan signed a programme agreement with the municipality of San Donato Milanese to define the details of a new stadium within a year and a half. It should contain 70 thousand seats and have four buildings next to it, including the Milan headquarters and a hotel. The bureaucratic process continues on this front as well, and a meeting between the city's top management and Scaroni is expected soon. However, many in Milan are betting that there will be a return to the redevelopment of the San Siro, shared between the two teams, a project that is more economical but above all more pleasing to the Milanese.