Paolo Scaroni, the president of AC Milan, spoke at the Festival dello Sport in Trento during the event "Gli stati generali del calcio italiano" (The General States of Italian Football).
On Milan's moment:
"I have been the president of Milan for more than six years", he said, "and when I came in, we were generating less than 180 million euros in revenue; now we generate over 450 million. The economic perspective is important, but it’s only part of the success. If we don’t win matches, we won’t go anywhere. These are two interconnected themes. The issue of economic sustainability is very important. Until a while ago, there were presidents like Berlusconi and Moratti who would put millions into the club at the end of the season to fix things. Now the situation is different, and sustainability is crucial."
On the new stadium project, he said:
"Years ago, I was one of the first to say that San Siro is old and I proposed tearing it down to build a new one. I was looked at poorly because I wanted to demolish the 'Scala del Calcio.' They tore down Wembley in London. Clubs need modern stadiums; we are many years behind abroad. The option we are considering is the first one, which is to build a new stadium next to San Siro. This morning, I spoke with the mayor of Milan. As AC Milan, we are also keeping alive the San Donato option; for this project, we have already spent 40 million euros."
On the problems of Italian football, Scaroni said:
"The only measure the Government has taken for football is the removal of the growth decree. So the only thing they did was negative; they did nothing positive. We need to modernize the entire football system", he explained,"I have worked with two American funds, and I have realised that we are not that far behind. Serie A is no longer what it was 30 years ago; we were the leaders in world football, and now, if we’re lucky, we’re in third place. The Spaniards have also surpassed us. This is the result of the backwardness of our football."
