CONI slam Italian stadium situation

CONI President Gianni Petrucci hailed Juventus for their new arena, but warned the other Serie A clubs have only performed “plastic surgery” to their stadiums.

The Bianconeri are the first side in Italy to have constructed their own stadium and many other clubs have made plans to follow suit, including Roma, Palermo, Cagliari and Fiorentina.

“Apart from the Juventus Stadium, so far I have only seen plastic surgery, but nothing realistically concrete,” said Petrucci, President of the Italian Olympic Committee.

“I believe if people really want something, then they can have it, but it’s counter-productive to sit and wait for the approval of a law. I still don’t understand why the law hasn’t been passed.”

Club have for several years pressurised the Italian Government to pass a law making it easier to build their own stadiums. At the moment, the sides rent the arenas out from the local council.

“I hope the situation can be cleared up as soon as possible. The law is stuck in red tape and we are close to the risk we won’t even have any games ready to play for Euro 2020.”

Good points. It's sad to see teams in lesser leagues than Serie A having overall better stadiums. Something needs to change or else the Italian clubs risk losing more ground to other European leagues.