Featured image credit: San Siro Stadium
Venue management company ASM Global has held an initial meeting with Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, regarding ongoing efforts to save the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
News of the meeting has emerged after it was initially reported last month that ASM had approached Milan authorities with a proposal to manage and redevelop the venue otherwise known as the San Siro.
The revelations, which create fresh intrigue in the ongoing process to deliver a new stadium for Serie A football clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan, were initially detailed by Italian broadcaster Mediaset, which published a letter from Giuseppe Rizzello, general manager of ASM Global’s Italian division, to Sala.
In the letter, Rizzello, who spent close to seven years working for Inter as stadium safety and operations manager between October 1999 and July 2006, backed calls to retain the Meazza.
Rizzello, accompanied by Claudio Trotta, head of the Comitato Sì Meazza group that is campaigning to save the stadium, has now met with Sala and general manager of the Comune di Milano, Christian Malangone, to discuss the future of the Meazza.
A statement on Comitato Sì Meazza’s Facebook page, signed by Trotta, read: “Together with Giuseppe Rizzello of ASM Global I met the mayor and the general manager. ASM Global reaffirmed its desire to modernise and manage the Meazza stadium, anticipating the request for a series of documents and data in order to formulate a proposal. An appointment has been set for early December, also with the European head of ASM Global.”
Public debate commenced on September 28 for the Nuovo Stadio Milano project, with a fresh look provided at the design proposals and original plans to retain some part of the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza being scrapped. The process is due to end on November 18, with the publication of the final report on the public debate.
Populous in December saw off competition from Manica/Sportium to land the contract to design the new stadium. Populous’ project, dubbed ‘The Cathedral’, was selected, with the coming weeks having promised the finalisation of the objectives and development process of Milan’s new stadium.
Bureaucratic red tape has stymied progress since then, but the plans laid out last month showed the angular stylings originally proposed for the new 60,000-seat stadium having been somewhat smoothed off. These changes are still provisional, however, and are expected to be altered further.
The Meazza had been expected to be partially demolished after holding the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and converted as part of the wider sports and entertainment district vision for the site.
However, it was revealed in September that this plan has changed with the Meazza now set to be demolished completely when Milan and Inter move into their new home in 2027, in order to better accommodate the sports and entertainment district, which will include a public park.
Stefano Boeri, founder of Stefano Boeri Architetti, last week presented his ‘forest-stadium’ concept for the Meazza, as debate continues over the proposed new home for Milan and Inter.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Il Giorno, Trotta expressed his hope that progress can be made with ASM on a plan for the Meazza. He said: “The meeting was absolutely positive. There is still no project for the restructuring and management of the Meazza, as it is logical that it all comes from the letter addressed to the Mayor, Giuseppe Sala, in response to what was declared by the Councillor for Urban Regeneration, Giancarlo Tancredi, on the fact that nobody was interested in the renovation and management of the San Siro stadium.
“ASM Global, on the other hand, came forward and said it was interested in the Meazza. From there the request came for a meeting with the mayor. At this point, ASM Global will ask the managers of the Comune for a series of documents in order to have the elements to formulate an adequate proposal on San Siro. A project cannot be born overnight, you need to know a series of elements before proceeding.
“My feeling, after meeting the mayor and the general manager, is positive. At the beginning of December one of the international leaders of ASM Global will be in Milan and we will certainly arrange another meeting with the representatives of the Comune to continue with the preliminary construction of possibly presenting a project.”
Share this