Feature

Napoli owner keen on building smaller stadium

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has signalled his intention to build a new, smaller stadium for the Italian Serie A football club after stating his dislike for Stadio San Paolo, the club’s current ground.

Napoli struggles to fill the 60,000-capacity San Paolo and last year averaged an attendance of around 39,000 in the league. The attendance for its opening home game of the season against AC Milan was 27,231.

Recent reports suggested that the ground, which is almost 70 years old, would be renovated but De Laurentiis is keen on rebuilding a new stadium from scratch.

“I no longer go to the stadium to watch the games from the stands because authorities at San Paolo cannot see anything,” De Laurentiis said, according to Neapolitan newspaper Il Mattino. “Every time I go for me is a pain. The view on TV is much better.”

He added: “Let’s face it once and for all: the game can be seen very well from TV. I will do it (build a new stadium) my way, as if it were a theatre with seats. It will be a club for those who want to participate. It will be 20,000 seats… this is not small… It will always be full.”

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