AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni has spoken out about the struggles around building a new home for the Serie A giant and admitted that little progress has been made despite years of trying to replace an ageing Stadio San Siro.
The stadium that they share with Milanese rivals Inter is the biggest stadium in Italy, but it has fallen behind the standards set by many arenas hosting their continental rivals, with outdated facilities still in use at the historic venue.
Both Milan and Inter have been trying to move stadium for a long time now, and have made a number of previous attempts to build on the current site, as well as various ideas of places to move within Milan.
Scaroni worn down by Italian bureaucracy
With Milan promoting the renewal of their sponsorship deal with Banco BPM, the 76-year-old faced the media and spoke openly of trying to build a stadium for the sole use of Milan, telling Milano Finanza: “The stadium saga is wearing me down a bit, because I have devoted a lot of time and energy. I have accomplished practically nothing and I’m not really used to using so much energy without achieving my goals.”
However, Scaroni did provide some hope for Rossoneri supporters, saying that, “we have two or three initiatives in place, which in my opinion, are strong possibilities. Right now, though, I don’t want to predict anything [too soon], but it seems that we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, after four years of suffering.”
Will AC Milan and Inter still share a new stadium?
While it is common in Italy for clubs to share stadiums, the example set by Juventus when moving into the Allianz Stadium in 2011 and the increased revenues that can bring suggests that both AC Milan and Inter will continue to go their separate way with building plans, particularly with the Rossoneri’s recent change of ownership.
Milan were sold to RedBird Capital Group in June 2022 after previous owners Elliott Management had already started work to either locate a new area within the city to build or take ownership of the Stadio San Siro outright and renovate it, having no interest in sharing costs with Inter owners Suning.
