San Siro, Fi not opposed, city council's approval of sale closer

In the end, after a six-year process, Milan and Inter's new stadium will be built. At least, that's what emerged from last night's river session of the city council. At 10:30 p.m., the situation is as follows: the resolution for the sale of the San Siro area, to which the council has already given a favourable opinion, is moving towards approval thanks to a tactical game between parties. Three out of four councillors from Forza Italia will vote, thus lowering the quorum. In this way, even if the centre-left majority alone cannot guarantee the necessary 25 votes, 23 yes votes are still sufficient.

The centre-left parties had numbers in the balance until the very end: there were two undecided in the PD, while seven had long since declared their opposition. The help of Forza Italia thus became crucial.

The political distinction is, however, a must, as it is precisely a matter of tactics: FI does not formally support the administration of a different political colour ('because the voters would not understand,' say the party leadership), but at the same time avoids scuttling the new stadium. The decision was announced by city councillor and regional councillor for Territory, Gianluca Comazzi: 'Milan has been at a standstill for over a year, 54% of real estate development takes place in our city. To miss the opportunity for growth and development that a 1.2 billion investment represents would be unforgivable. This is why Forza Italia is making a responsible choice'. There was no shortage of stomach aches: Alessandro De Chirico, of Forza Italia, continued to express his denial. But overall, it is clear that the resolution for the sale has been saved by the 'moderate' centre-right. Strongly critical of this choice are the Lega and Forza Italia groups, who accuse their coalition colleagues of 'acting as a crutch for Mayor Sala'.

The final OK is expected overnight or in the early hours of the morning, a few hours before the deadline for the teams' bid, which they have given as the deadline of 30 September.

The councillors proposed 239 amendments, partly in the wake of criticism from the Committee for Legality, which pointed out risks of mafia infiltration and speculation. However, fundamental changes were already made last month. The municipality will contribute 22 million to the extra costs (to be quantified) for the reclamation, redevelopment of the Patroclus tunnel and the green areas to be returned to the municipality, equal to 50 per cent of the area. The structure will have at least 70,000 seats. The sale price to the teams is 197 million: 73 million to be paid immediately, the remainder to be paid in instalments. An 'earn out' clause has also been introduced, obliging the buyer to pay the City a percentage of the capital gains in the event of a sale to a third party before five years. There will also be an implementation plan to decide on the demolition of the Meazza stadium and to realise the commercial activities. Milan and Inter will be able to terminate the sale contract if investigations are opened on the operation.