Italy needs to upgrade ageing stadiums for club revenue boost, Euro 2032

MILAN :Milan's San Siro is one of the most famous stadiums in world soccer, but the storied home of AC Milan and Inter Milan is showing its age and lags behind what other major European clubs offer their fans.

Italy is trying to raise its game when it comes to stadiums, pressed by foreign investors who have acquired a number of clubs including the two Milan giants, and also needing arenas that are fit for purpose when it co-hosts the 2032 Euros, with Turkey.

But teams like AC Milan and Inter, as well as Lazio and Roma further south, are struggling to rebuild or renovate, wrangling with public bodies who often own stadiums, and getting caught up in red tape.

The result is that only six Italian stadiums were built or redeveloped in the 2007-2024 period, compared with 19 in Germany, 13 in England and 12 in France, according to consultancy firm PwC.

"At the San Siro stadium, we can't cook anything. The little food that we sell is all microwaved three minutes beforehand," AC Milan Chairman Paolo Scaroni told a PwC Italy event in March. 

He contrasted it to the situation in Britain, where Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium even features an in-built microbrewery "because the English like to drink beer, and we can't even cook a plate of spaghetti."

The Tottenham stadium, designed by specialist company Populous, opened in 2019 at a cost of around 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) and features a retractable pitch. It also hosts other events such as NFL games.

GOVERNMENT HELP

The Italian government is trying to help, with a plan in the works to appoint a special commissioner with power to fast-track projects worth 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) across different agencies, and speed up preparations for Euro 2032, the first major tournament in