The China Mail - San Siro on course for demolition after sale to Inter and AC Milan approved

Inter and AC Milan had both threatened to abandon the city had the sale not been approved after having looked at sites in nearby suburbs.

More than 11 hours of debate at city hall ended with 24 votes in favour of the sale for 197 millions euros ($231 million) and 20 against -- enough for Italy's economic capital to decree that Inter Milan and AC Milan will become owners of both the iconic stadium and adjacent land.

Confirmation of a vote in favour of the resolution didn't come until nearly 4:00am (0200 GMT) after a long night which included discussion of a raft of proposed amendments.

In the end Inter and AC Milan, both owned by American investment funds, and the mayor of Italy's economic capital Giuseppe Sala got what they wanted after years of uncertainty over a 1.2-billion-euro project.

The clubs proposed the purchase of the site to the city in March after a previous project in which the land remained public was abandoned in 2023.

As long as the sale is completed by November 10 -- when a public building protection order preventing the demolition of the San Siro comes into effect -- Inter and AC Milan will take control of just over 28 hectares (70 acres) of public land in a densely populated area on the western outskirts of Milan.

It is on the land to the immediate west of the San Siro, currently occupied by matchday car parking and a local park, where a modern 71,500-capacity arena will be built.

Once the new ground is constructed, San Siro will be almost entirely demolished to make way for new parkland, office space and entertainment facilities with everything to be designed by architectural firms Foster and Partners and MANICA.

It will still be some years before the bulldozers come for the current San Siro, where Inter and AC Milan will continue to play their matches to crowds of up to 75,000 until 2031 when the clubs hope to have the new stadium finished.

- Political anger -

The clubs and Sala were helped by the abstention of councillors from the right-wing Forza Italian party founded by deceased former prime minister and ex-AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi.

The other opposition parties, the hard-right League and Brothers of Italy, both voted against the proposal, as did a number of councillors from the left-leaning majority which backs Sala's local government.

There has been anger across the political spectrum in Milan at what councillors see as a bypassing of local democracy with Sala trying to avoid being the mayor who allowed two of the world's biggest football clubs to leave Milan.

The proposal was criticised by some members of the council for not containing any details of the development of the new stadium and surrounding area, while the price was also blasted as being too low for a prime area of real estate.

The vote will please Italy's football federation (FIGC) as Milan is one of the potential candidates to hold matches at Euro 2032, which is set to be jointly hosted by Italy and Turkey.

The FIGC needs to communicate to UEFA its five official picks for hosting stadiums by October next year, when it can present new stadiums or ones which need to be redeveloped as long as works begin by March 2027.

Only one of Italy's 14 potential candidates -- Juventus' Allianz Stadium in Turin -- is currently in line with the criteria set by European football's governing body.

P.Deng--ThChM