San Siro to be demolished after sale approved for Milan and Inter | OneFootball

The San Siro stadium, one of the most famous in the world, will be demolished after the Milan City Council approved, this Tuesday, its sale to the two main teams of the Italian city: Inter and Milan.

The clubs had threatened to leave the city if the sale was not approved. After more than 11 hours of debate at City Hall, the sale was approved by 24 votes to 20, for 197 million euros (231 million dollars, 1.23 billion reais).

The two clubs from the capital of Lombardy published a joint statement to celebrate the municipal decision, which represents “a historic and decisive step forward for the future of the clubs and the city.” Inter and Milan reiterated their ambition to build “a world-class stadium destined to become a new architectural icon for Milan and a symbol of the passion of fans all over the world.”

With this decision, Italy’s economic capital has decided that Inter and Milan will be the owners of the iconic stadium and the surrounding land.

The result of the vote was announced at 4:00 a.m. (11:00 p.m. Brasília time, Monday).

The two clubs, both owned by American investment funds, and the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, achieved what they had been seeking after years of uncertainty regarding the project valued at 1.2 billion euros (1.41 billion dollars, 7.5 billion reais).

The clubs submitted the proposal to purchase the stadium in March. A previous project, in which the land would remain public, was abandoned in 2023.

If the sale is finalized before November 10 – when a protection order for public buildings comes into effect that would prevent the demolition of San Siro – Inter and Milan will take control of more than 28 hectares of public land in a densely populated area in a suburb in the western part of Milan.

The new San Siro, with a capacity for 71,500 fans, is expected to open in 2031. After that, the current stadium, the largest in Italy, with a capacity for 75,000 spectators, will be demolished.

The sale was approved by the municipality thanks to the abstention of councilors from the right-wing party “Forza Italia,” founded by the late former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was once the owner of Milan.

The far-right parties League and “Fratelli d’Italia” voted against the proposal, as did some councilors from the left-wing majority that supports Sala’s local government.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.