Serie A football stadiums should look to new revenue streams, including lap dancing, to fully exploit their potential, according to the head of the country’s football association.
Carlo Tavecchio, president of the FIGC, said Serie A stadiums should become multi-purpose and could feature shops, cinemas and even lap dancing.
Speaking at a hearing into alleged mafia influence at football venues in Italy, Tavecchio said many of the country’s stadiums are not generating the revenues they should be because they are only used once every other week during the football season.
Serie A stadiums, which he said are “inferior” to venues in other European countries, should also focus on modernising, improving security and tackling ticket touting if they are to attract more visitors.
“There shouldn’t only be football in stadiums, there should also be pharmacies, cinemas, supermarkets – we need to have more social activities,” said Tavecchio, according to FIGC. “There could even be lap dancing.
Serie A stadiums ‘inferior’
“We have a handicap with our stadiums being inferior to the European average, also in terms of security.
“The new concept in Turkey with regards to photographic identification changes the whole system and that should be applied to the actual ticket holder at the gates.
“The DASPO [stadium banning order for antisocial behaviour] has delivered results, but controlling the DASPO is not very effective.
“I totally agree that ticket touting should be made a criminal act as this would be a notable deterrent.”
Juventus (pictured) and Udinese have both built new grounds in recent years, but many Serie A grounds have had little work done since renovations took place ahead of the 1990 Fifa World Cup. Roma are bidding to build a new stadium but are still waiting for final approval.
IMAGE: forzaq8
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