Italy, obsolete stadiums: ‘It’s time for a change, we are far from the rest of Europe’

Heavy numbers to underline the urgency of the problem and serious planning of possible solutions. This is the heart of the conference organized by Lega Serie A this morning at CONI entitled “The future of stadiums in Italy”, which saw the participation of many sports and football personalities including the presidents of Juve, Milan and Naples Gianluca Ferrero , Paolo Scaroni and Aurelio De Laurentiis.

DE SIERVO

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The CEO opened the speeches. of the Lega Luigi De Siervo, curator of the book project “The stadium of the future”, who underlined how stadiums “condition the value of TV rights, but above all the collections that can be obtained with a suitable system. There is a problem with the bureaucracy, fortunately the Minister of Sport Abodi knows the subject and knows what the critical points are. We have to make an effort to be able to think of the stadium of the future, which will be functional for 20 years.”

GRAVINE

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To get an idea of ​​the situation in Italian stadiums, it suffices to say that the average age of stadiums here is 68, in Germany it is 38 and in England it is 35. But the president of the FIGC Gabriele Gravina brings out another figure: “ In the last 15 years, 187 new stadiums have been built in UEFA countries. Turkey, which is fighting with us to host Euro 2032, has built 29. Italy is stuck at 5… Out of a total investment of 21.7 billion euros, that of our country is 1%. We are light years away from the rest of Europe”. Then he continues: “Hosting the continental tournament would be a great opportunity for the relaunch of the country and for its international credibility”. Finally on government initiatives on stadiums: “It is moving with a Dpcm which demonstrates that this is a need felt and shared by all”.

CASINI

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For the president of the Lega Serie A Lorenzo Casini “this is the time to work to change the stadiums in Italy, if we don’t do it now I don’t know how much longer we will have to wait. The stadium theme is the priority, the main urgency of our football because it puts the Italian system behind compared to other countries. It’s not a problem of rules, because they exist and define precise times, and it’s not even a matter of resources. The real problem is the procedures that make it very difficult for the municipal administration to manage everything on its own. We are not asking the government for resources, we are asking for help for the municipalities”.

ABODI

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The intervention of the Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi was decisive: “The time for excuses, alibis and difficulties is over. Today there is a minister who wants to take responsibility for him and fortunately he is not alone, because there is a government ready to do the same. There’s nothing to invent, we have to take our responsibilities, myself first. I feel the weight you place on my good fortune to have had several working lives: however, I am in my fifth or sixth life cycle and I always hear the same things. This time, however, I can really be by your side: we can do it. So far the decisive word has been missing: the strength of the will to which systematicity and competence must be added”. The minister then announces the establishment through the Dpcm of an “interinstitutional committee whose composition we will reveal today and which will support the candidacy for the European Championship and will be part of the dossier that the FIGC will present and will certainly qualify for the final choice”. So thinking of the Franchi situation, he says: “There is a city that wants to contribute to the redevelopment of the stadium, but the superintendency has said no. This city finds the financial resources but they are asked why they don’t build schools. It’s something schizophrenic. The stadium is also a social infrastructure, it is an urban redevelopment tool, it creates jobs and reflects all the characteristics for community funding”.

BARON

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And Joe Barone, general manager of Fiorentina intervenes with justified interest on Franchi: “These are events that serve to move the future of the structures also at the government level. Unfortunately Fiorentina and the stadium in Florence are not a good example for all that has happened: we wanted to build the stadium in 2019, there are so many procedures to change. For our part we are doing a job to organize the funds of the PNRR but we reiterate that for our part it is important to understand the cost of the rent, the years of the concession and who will have the use of the stadium. We have to figure it out now and we can’t wait much longer to know our future.”