A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #29-25 - Selling Off the San Siro Stadium (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Let's start with a consideration: sport in general and especially 
football, considered the national sport par excellence has betrayed its 
origins and become nothing more than a business. The most talented teams 
win, but that talent is bought with euros, in the specific case of 
Milan, with dollars. Teams are merely flags on empty boxes, filled by 
the buying and selling of players. It is precisely over their attachment 
to the flags on the empty boxes of the various teams that the most 
ardent fans, often linked to mafia-like logic, clash fiercely. But this 
doesn't bother our institutions, which consider it a suitable outlet for 
social distress; indeed, it is adequately protected. In this climate of 
inverted values, it's not even scandalous that important teams, like 
Inter and AC Milan, have been purchased by companies with American funds 
to profit from football. So it's no surprise that these overseas 
businessmen are planning a deal that involves the purchase in reality, a 
sell-off of the Meazza Stadium in San Siro by the City of Milan.

The project calls for the demolition of a historic stadium of 
international importance for its characteristics and the reconstruction 
of a new stadium nearby, in the Parco dei Due Capitani, reclaiming green 
spaces from the surrounding area, surrounded by shopping malls that are 
suffocating Milan. A major business operation that, among other 
developments, also paves the way for the construction of residential 
housing for the wealthy in the surrounding areas, while housing for the 
working classes is lacking, driven out of the city and pushed into 
suburbs that have been deliberately left to decay.

There has certainly been no shortage of action to counter the City's 
plan. In response to this speculative plan, various civic committees 
with different characteristics were formed, united in the goal of 
preventing such a devastation. They responded with mobilizations, 
counter-information, and protests both under the city hall and in spaces 
adjacent to the stadium, such as the Parco dei Due Capitani. Legal 
action was also taken. Furthermore, the "Spazio Micene" committee, in 
collaboration with the "San Siro Città Pubblica" committee, initiated 
protests in the same neighborhood, including non-profit popular sports 
events, from boxing to soccer, for both men and women. These events were 
held in the same park where the new stadium would be built, with 
counter-information purposes and by participating in joint initiatives 
with other committees.

This plan to sell off and privatize the Meazza Municipal Stadium, driven 
primarily by the will of Mayor Sala, a center-left administration, faced 
a very short-lived obstacle: November marked the 70th anniversary of the 
stadium's construction. After that date, the San Siro Stadium could no 
longer be removed. Therefore, it was essential and urgent for the City 
Council to promptly approve Sala's plan to sell the stadium to Inter 
Milan and AC Milan. The mayor was aware that the project was causing 
considerable discontent, even within his own majority, which was the 
main reason he had avoided such a discussion until now. However, the 
time came when the matter could no longer be postponed, so the decisive 
City Council meeting was held on September 29th. The vote was held late 
at night, with several councilors from the majority voting against it. 
However, the project passed anyway thanks to a backroom deal between 
Mayor Sala and Forza Italia's Letizia Moratti, who persuaded her members 
to vote in favor. The final result was 22 yes votes, 20 no votes, and 2 
non-participants.

We publish the Offtopic collective's statement on the matter. "The 
mockery of the gray-orange councils unfolded overnight... After last 
night's vote at Palazzo Marino, we can unfortunately confirm: with the 
support of Forza Italia, the former Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti and 
her manager Giuseppe Sala have reconstituted the old alliance with a 
definitive shift to the right. We're not surprised, but we're still 
perplexed by the reactions of the Greens and the "dissidents" of the 
Democratic Party, who seem to have only discovered in recent weeks the 
arrogance of the city's real power. Slowed but not threatened by 
investigations and grassroots mobilizations this summer, the San Siro 
affair has revealed its worst side... Sold off to two US funds whose 
ownership structure is unclear, not only the stadium but the entire 
surrounding area, in a financial and commercial speculation operation. 
The demise of Europe's largest equestrian district represents a concrete 
threat to Milan's ERP district and a final blow to a municipality that 
has virtually no property or assets left. But there is still a chance to 
stop the process: ...as the No Tav movement in Val Susa has taught us, 
"It's not over until it's over."

What is most outrageous is the city administration's policy, which, 
instead of acting as a regulator of profound social injustices for the 
most disadvantaged segments of the population, exacerbates social 
inequalities by promoting a policy of privatization and real estate 
speculation that benefits only the powerful. Therefore, we will continue 
to fight to ensure that Milan becomes a city based on the interests of 
the working classes, workers, students, low-income families, and the 
unemployed.

Enrico Moroni

https://umanitanova.org/svendita-dello-stadio-san-siro/
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