Featured image credit: Sportium
The Municipality of Cagliari has voted to approve a €50m (£42.8m/$53.9m) investment in a new stadium for Serie A football club Cagliari Calcio.
The vote represents the latest boost for the club’s plans, after the Region of Sardinia last week gave the green light to its own €50m funding package. The Regional Council of Sardinia initially gave the green light for the funding back in February, but this was only formally signed off on November 28.
Following last week’s announcement, a further €109m for the project needed to be divided between the Municipality of Cagliari and Cagliari Calcio. During a city council meeting held yesterday (Tuesday), all 31 council members voted in favour of the Municipality’s funding package.
“It’s not over yet, but this is an important moment,” Cagliari Mayor Paolo Truzzu said, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
The new stadium will have an initial capacity of 25,000 and it is hoped it will be delivered in time for the 2025-26 season. There are also hopes the facility will be a host venue for the 2032 Uefa European Championship, which Italy will stage alongside Turkey.
Cagliari finalised plans for its new stadium in July 2022, with the venue to be built on the site of the old Stadio Sant’Elia. The club has been playing at the temporary Sardegna Arena since the 2017-18 season after the Sant’Elia was closed with a view to being demolished and completely rebuilt.
In March, Cagliari City Council unanimously approved a motion presented by Mayor Truzzu that the new stadium be named after club and Italian national team legend Gigi Riva.
When giving the green light for the funding package last week, the Region of Sardinia denied that it had delayed approving the scheme due to a reluctance to back the venture. The Region’s allocation will see €3m allocated by the end of this month, €15m in 2024, a further €12m in 2025, and the final tranche of €20m in 2026.
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