ROME: Milan and Internazionale have finally agreed on how to replace the historic Stadio Giuseppe Meazza at San Siro. They will continue to play there until 2026 before moving to a new home, La Catedral, whose construction will begin in early 2024.

The municipally-owned San Siro stadium was opened in 1926 and redeveloped in both 1955 and 1990, will be demolished with the new stadium being built on adjacent land.

Initially the clubs and local authority had discussed a further redevelopment but now the clubs have decided that the only logical way forward is demolition at the end of 2026, in which it will have staged teh Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

Named after 1930s World Cup hero Giuseppe Meazza, the old stadium has an 80,000 capacity and has staged four Champions League finals, the last one in 2016 between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

Milan and Inter hope the new venue will be finished by the start of the 2027-2028 season. It will have a smaller capacity, 65,000 spectators, since the average number of spectators for both clubs does not exceed 50,000 per game.

The project will include an urbanizstion of the adjoining area, a 50,000 sq.m park, with underground parking, a 17-storey double tower, and a shopping center. a congress centre and a sports museum.

The cost of the new stadium has been estimated at one billion euros to be funded equally by Milan and Inter. Both must pay a land lease fee to the council but the stadium – and thus all its revenues – will belong to them.

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