MILAN, March 1 — Inter Milan and AC Milan made official yesterday their joint bid to build a new stadium on the site of the iconic San Siro after presenting a feasibility study to local authorities in the northern Italian city.
Part of the proposal includes an offer to purchase the land on which the current, city-owned stadium is situated, with the clubs saying that they were “aiming to complete the acquisition process by July 2025”.
“The document contains the proposal for the acquisition of the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium (San Siro) and surrounding areas, along with a feasibility plan for constructing a state-of-the-art stadium,” said the clubs in a statement.
“Over the next few months, the two clubs will engage with the Municipal Administration to discuss and refine the details and distinctive elements of the proposal… The final concept and executive project may eventually be presented at a later stage and are not part of today’s submission.”
Last week the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala said that he was hoping to sell the site “by the summer holidays”.
Giants of European football, Inter and Milan have long desired to replace the current San Siro with a modern arena, and in October relaunched a joint project which was abandoned in 2023 after it spent over three years winding its way through the bureaucratic and political corridors.
Before any demolition of the current ground happens a new stadium, which in the previous project was planned to have a capacity of 60,000 but this time has reportedly been increased to over 70,000, would be built to the immediate west of the current ground, on car parking and a local park.
Work would not begin before next year’s Winter Olympics when the current San Siro will host the opening ceremony, and any sale of the public land would have to pass through the city council.
There has been unease from councillors across the political spectrum, with anger at what they see as a bypassing of local democracy as Sala tries to force through the project to avoid becoming the mayor who allowed two of the world’s biggest football clubs to leave the city.
A source told AFP that anger is such among councillors that a vote on the sale of the land could go either way.
Fans meanwhile have expressed concern that a new stadium would lead to further increases in ticket prices as high-end hospitality areas replace seats for regular supporters who regularly number more than 70,000 for both teams’ home matches. — AFP