Soccer fans are constantly wondering what will happen to the San Siro, one of the most iconic stadiums in the entire world that might be demolished in the coming years with both Inter and AC Milan looking for a new home. It's quite complicated to follow the twist and turns of this story considering that even the clubs are quite often changing their ideas and projects about the future of their stadium. Let's try to break down the reasons why we might not see anymore San Siro in the near future and what will happen to the two giant Italian clubs.
Why Inter and AC Milan want to leave
The main aspect to explain about this story is the reason why both clubs are now playing in San Siro but want to leave the iconic stadium. The reasons are multiple, but on top of everything, there is a financial explanation. In Italy, most of the stadiums are owned by the city and the clubs pay rent to play in the stadium. This is happening for all the Italian clubs, except Juventus, Atalanta and Udinese. For this technicality, the clubs that are renting the stadium can't make as much in revenue as the others that own their respective stadium and can't also invest as much as they want to renovate the infrastructure.
In this case, San Siro was built back in 1926 and saw few major renovations in 1937, 1954, 1990 and 2015, but even if it's still one of the most incredible and astonishing stadiums around the world, it can't compete with other ones in terms of revenue. Both Inter and AC Milan's first idea was to keep and renovate San Siro, but as the Nerazzurri CEO Alessandro Antonello pointed out, that was not possible.
"The first tier was built in 1926, the second in 1956 and a third added in 1990 with the roof. These were placed one on top of the other, but have very little connection between them. This means there are very limited spaces for businesses and restoration."
A common project
Later on, the two clubs tried to work on a common project that meant demolishing San Siro and replacing it with a new stadium in the same place, as other European clubs have done in the past years. The project was approved in December 2021 when Inter and AC Milan announced "The Cathedral" had been selected for their new stadium. It would also see a "reconfiguration of the area in the San Siro neighborhood, currently occupied by the Meazza Stadium (another name for the San Siro), through the creation of a new district dedicated to sport and leisure."
However, many things changed in the past year. AC Milan were sold to RedBird Capital Partners, who consider the stadium a priority while Inter are facing a quite difficult financial situation under Chinese owner Steven Zhang the past two years. On top of that, things are not moving quickly with the city of Milan which still has to give the final green light for the common project that would mark the end of the San Siro era. Also, Milan will host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and the opening ceremony will take place at the San Siro. In any case, even if the new project will be approved, before that day the stadium won't be touched at all.
And now?
The latest reports suggest that both Inter and AC Milan will build their own stadium in two different areas, even if Inter CEO Antonello insisted on Wednesday that the common project is still the priority.
"I remain confident in building the stadium together with AC Milan," he said. "After three and a half years of intense work, especially after getting the general approval of the city council, a lot more thought would be needed to give up on a project like this."
"Having said that, Inter have clarity on what our next steps would be whatever the case may be, whether Milan decide to stay at San Siro or whether they decide to move plans elsewhere. We have a Plan B in place which is there to protect the interests of the club and, above all, the fans". If Inter and AC Milan will build their new stadiums elsewhere, the main question about San Siro will change: what to do with it? It's definitely too early to think about this scenario, but many soccer fans around the world would be happy after all."
Over the years, the San Siro has hosted games from the 1934 and 1990 World Cups, four Champions League finals, games at UEFA Euro 1980 and numerous iconic musical acts like The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Madonna and more.
