Paolo Scaroni, president of AC Milan, spoke about San Siro and the new stadium on the sidelines of the Football Business Forum held at SDA Bocconi:
“The start of the journey toward the new stadium was very difficult. Beyond bureaucracy, people didn’t want a new stadium out of nostalgia and attachment to San Siro. Because of that, the city’s political authorities also didn’t want a new stadium. Perhaps thanks to television showing what stadiums abroad looked like, people began to realize that while San Siro is fantastic, it lacks comfort. That’s how the final stage of this journey toward a new stadium began."
"Having a public stadium inside a city like Milan would be complicated even outside Italy, so bureaucracy played only a minor role in this."
"RedBird has great experience in building sports venues worldwide, and we want to build the best stadium in the world. If someone goes to San Siro now, it’s empty, almost frightening because it feels deserted. We want a stadium that hosts something every day, or at least a venue where everything can happen, with restaurants and hospitality infrastructure."
Scaroni continued:
"Today, San Siro no longer meets the requirements for top competitions. We have a good relationship with Inter since we’ve shared the stadium for 70 years. We have chosen world-class architectural firms and followed a model used in England for Wembley: the old one was demolished, and the new one was built right next to it. We won’t completely demolish the Meazza, we’ll keep a part of it as a memory, but the new stadium will be a source of pride for Milan and for Italy.”
(Reported by tuttomercatoweb.com)
