MILAN: Silvio Berlusconi’s AC Milan have unveiled proposals to quit the Stadio Meazza for a 48,000-capacity new stadium in time for the kickoff to the 2018-19 season.

Milan and Inter, who share the old San Siro stadium, have long grown increasingly impatient at the financial constraints of playing in a municipally-owned venue.

Architect Emilio Faroldi said: “We were inspired by the Emirates Stadium in London and the stadiums of Basel, Bilbao and Neuchatel.

“We approached the project developing the basic themes of this work: we are talking about environmental sustainability, the concept of a smart urban arena that is easily reached by public transport, and it is low impact.

“A stadium, also, that identifies itself more like a building, like a piece of the city, and not as a business machine to be activated exclusively for a sporting event once a week.

“Scientific research, through a series of studies, tells us clearly that the role of the arenas in Europe and in the world is gradually changing. The stadiums are no longer meant only as a place for sporting events, although open all week, but as a useful piece to reorder the urban outlook of a city, a neighbourhood.”

WorldSoccer.com

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