Inter Milan President Hits Out: ‘In England They Demolished Wembley, In Italy Bureaucracy Discourages Investment’

Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta feels it’s unfortunate that Inter Milan cannot replace the San Siro the way that Wembley was.

Speaking on the program Tg2 Dossier, via FCInterNews, Marotta lamented the “bureaucracy” in Italy around stadiums, arguing that it “discourages investment.”

For years, Inter and AC Milan have been trying to secure approval to demolish the San Siro and build a new stadium in its place.

The San Siro is undeniably one of the most iconic stadiums not just in Italy, but in all of world football.

However, the existing stadium does not meet the clubs’ needs.

Inter and Milan cannot draw the same sort of revenues from the San Siro that their biggest European rivals can from their own stadiums.

This is obviously a problem. Therefore, the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri have aimed for a long time to move to a new stadium.

For a long time, the clubs’ plan was to tear down the San Siro and build a new stadium in the area where it stands.

This would be similar to how Wembley was replaced in the early 2000s, as Nerazzurri President Marotta alludes to.

However, Inter and Milan faced continual bureaucratic obstacles.

An injunction against demolishing the stadium was the final nail in the coffin.

In the last year and change, Inter and Milan have reoriented themselves towards building new stadiums outside of city limits. And to going their separate ways.

The Nerazzurri are focusing on the commune of Rozzano. And for the Rossoneri, it is San Donato.

Milan Mayor Beppe Sala is still hoping that plans to renovate the San Siro change things. He wants to keep the clubs at the stadium.

But it is very questionable whether the Mayor’s efforts will work.

Marotta Hits Out On San Siro: “In England They Tore Down San Siro, In Italy Bureaucracy Discourages Investment”

Asked why he thinks it’s so difficult to build a new stadium, Marotta said “It’s difficult first of all because in Italy the bureaucracy makes it tricky.”

“In England they went as far as to demolish an iconic stadium in Wembley,” he noted.

“In Italy, it’s hard to get approval to tear down any kind of structure.”

“These difficulties come up precisely because of all the bureaucracy,” Marotta said.

“It entails many steps and getting many different kinds of authorization.”

“Therefore, before you get final authorization, there’s a lot of discouragement to potential investors,” Marotta argued.

“Because time is certainly not in their favour.”