Milan City Council officially approve sale of San Siro to Inter, AC Milan, paving way for new stadium

It was a historic night in Milan on Monday, or perhaps more accurately on Tuesday morning, when at 3:45 a.m. local time the Milan City Council finally approved the sale of the city’s iconic San Siro stadium to the two clubs Inter and AC Milan. The sale marks an end to one of the most discussed topics of the past decade in Italy. Like most of the Italian stadiums, San Siro was owned by the city while both Inter and AC Milan pay an annual fee to play there, creating an atmosphere that housed some of the most exciting matches in the history of the game. After this decision, which came after an 11-hour public debate in the council, the two clubs are now expected to buy the stadium and build another one in the same area, while the current structure will be demolished. The Milan City Council voted with 24 votes in favor of the sale for €197 million ($231 million) and 20 against. 

Inter and AC Milan, both owned by American investment funds, and the mayor of the city Giuseppe Sala obtained what they wanted as the Nerazzurri president Giuseppe Marotta publicly said the clubs were ready to leave Milan and build a brand new stadium elsewhere if the vote was negative. The two clubs now have less than five weeks to complete the purchase of the stadium, as starting in November the entire area will come under heritage protection, the same reason why the vote of Monday was so important for the future of San Siro. 

After the clubs proposed, but failed, to acquire the area before 2023 and then opted for two different projects for two different stadiums outside Milan, the two teams are now back working together in what looks likely to finally be the right time for new modern infrastructure as Inter and AC Milan will be in control of over 28 hectares (70 acres) of public land where the current stadium is located. Last week, the clubs announced that architectural firms Foster and Partners and MANICA will design the project of the new stadium, with more details expected to be announced in the next few weeks. 

The current stadium will host the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic games that will take place in February next year and the expectation is that San Siro won’t be demolished at least before 2031. In fact, the two teams will continue to play in their historic stadium until the new one is ready, which should be before 2032 as Milan is one of the candidates to host games at Euro 2032, which is likely to be jointly hosted by Italy and Turkiye.