Newly chosen Italian prime minister Enrico Letta believes that there is a need for new stadiums to be built in Italy as many current ones are too old and unsustainable.
“Nearly all the stadiums are more or less decades old, located in the heart of the city, and trap smog,” Letta said in a speech to the Italian Senate.
“We must make changes, believing that there may be more people who can work around these ‘investments,’ which would also free up the historic centres.
“One cannot always be frozen by fear of the consequences: either we do something about these issues or remain stuck.”
Many Italian stadiums are in extremely poor condition and are a financial burden to not only the clubs that rent them, but the city that owns the stadiums as well.
The Italian stadium issue was highlighted this season by Cagliari, who have failed to find a permanent home after leaving the Stadio Sant’Elia last year due to its increasingly deteriorated condition.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is Juventus, who opened their new stadium last season and are currently enjoying the benefits of being sole owners of both the stadium and the property it sits on.
If Serie A is to be taken serious again this is about time. I strongly believe 30-40 percent more people would go to the stadiums with modern facilities. Juventus went from 23.000 in average to 40.000 with their new stadium. They just need four of seats above the VIP section and finding a way to remove the cables in the corners.