Milan’s plan: 200 million for grassroots sport and new projects
The City of Milan is committed to strengthening grassroots sport. Whilst the city celebrates its top ranking in *Il Sole 24 Ore*’s Sportiness Index, 30 projects are currently underway at facilities intended for use by children, young people and families, even before they are used by champions and major clubs. Investment through public-private partnerships exceeds 200 million and is still ongoing.
The Council’s commitments
The decision taken by the Department for Sport, led by Martina Riva, is to promote public leadership alongside the work of the private sector: ‘The PPP is a choice driven by social considerations; it is not merely a necessary choice. We are opting for this approach for facilities that have been handed over to us in a very poor state of repair, where investments running into several million are required and where even the design work costs hundreds of thousands of euros. A PPP is simply another route to the provision of services. The narrative – concludes Riva – put forward by some suggests that it is equivalent to privatisation, but this is not the case because ownership of the facility remains public and the local authority has the opportunity to include many clauses in the agreement – including those relating to tariffs – to safeguard the public interest, as indeed happened in the case of the Lido and the Scarioni (two swimming pools, ed.)”.As regards swimming, here are the main measures.
The facilities
It is at the Lido that a partnership involving a 25 million investment has been launched, with reopening scheduled for February 2027; there will be the new Fatebenesorelle swimming pool, built using fees set aside for this purpose (scheduled to open in January 2027); the Cardellino – a new ‘swimming stadium’, the largest in the city – will also be built, with an investment of 32 million, comprising municipal funds and PNRR funds (scheduled to open by the end of the current term of office, in 2027); within the new Cardellino complex, three new football pitches are also being designed adjacent to the new swimming pool, funded by Sport e Salute; at Scarioni, a public-private partnership process is underway, involving an investment of 24 million; the Argelati swimming pool is being refurbished using municipal funds (with an estimated investment of 28 million), where the project will be selected by the end of the current term of office through an international competition; finally, among the key investments worth noting is the Cozzi swimming pool, also involving a public-private partnership and an investment of 36 million, the management of which will remain with the company Milanosport.
As regards athletics, amongst the various projects, the main one concerns the Arena Civica, in the centre of Milan, a historic and symbolic landmark of the city. In June 2026, an exploratory notice was published to seek a technical sponsor or, alternatively, a party interested in entering into a partnership agreement for the refurbishment of the athletics track; in addition to this, the installation of a new lighting system (lighting towers) will be funded by the City Council. The ‘XXV Aprile’ facility has also launched a PPP procedure involving an investment of 6 million for the maintenance and upgrading of both athletics and tennis facilities. Finally, here are a few examples for other sports.
The Agorà ice rink will be refurbished with an investment of 5 million; the De Nicola sports centre is set to undergo a complete refurbishment, via a PPP scheme, with an investment of 9.3 million; the Betti Cechov complex, currently under construction, will feature four new sports halls under a PPP scheme, with an investment of 7.8 million.
