Beppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, expressed himself at Palazzo Marino, the seat of the Milan City Council, opening the presentation of the study for the restructuring of San Siro:
"It is clear that as the mayor of Milan, I would not do anything to oppose the hypothesis that teams build a new stadium outside Milan. However, this does not mean that I cannot consider the fact that we must do everything to ensure that the teams stay in Milan; there are some reasons, such as the vocal support of the police for the matches."
"Football clubs in Italy are not assets. It remains evident, considering an investment of 900 million away from Milan, having the opportunity to work on San Siro, why not do it?!"
Sala continued:
"Inter has expressed interest in Rozzano, but demonstrative actions have not been taken. The situation is different for Milan. The mayor of San Donato has informed us of Milan's submission of an application in the territory of San Donato for a new stadium owned by the club. The municipality of San Donato has issued a resolution of the executive committee for the San Francesco area."
Sala added:
"The last formal interaction with the teams dates back to September 2023. We had asked them to communicate their intentions regarding the 2019 proposal. The teams responded separately, even with slightly different accents, emphasizing understandable notes, such as the opinion of the superintendent on the constraint of the second tier."
"In March, the outcome of the appeal we filed for the superintendent's opinion will be known. We believe that, barring different decisions from the Administrative Court (TAR), the constraint on the second tier of San Siro can be considered a certainty. At this point, the teams must be able to respond to the letter from September. We must clarify to Milan - and inform Inter - whether the municipality of San Donato's application should be understood as a waiver of the 2019 Siro project."
"The main road for us becomes the enhancement of San Siro. That's why it is important today to evaluate projects like the one presented, hoping that it revives the interest of the teams or at least one for San Siro."
"The cost of San Siro for the municipality and the people of Milan is approximately 100 million euros. If there is interest from the teams or even just one team, we would be open to solutions: the first option is that we carry out the work ourselves, the second option is that we could participate in the work with a partnership, and the third option is to transfer the stadium on a surface rights basis; we consider it the most interesting because the teams value the asset of the stadium and because, with the work managed by a private entity, the redevelopment could be faster."
Sala continued:
"The asset value of 100 million euros does not mean that the teams have to give us 100 million. We could partly request it to be used for a public function in some cases to lower the price, but the amount would be much more limited than what the two teams currently pay."
"If there is the possibility of investing in the neighboring areas by the teams, it would be much more advantageous for us."
"There are many common-sense reasons to think that for us, the San Siro option is the main option, this presentation of San Siro is very important."
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