The Serie A team SSC Napoli could demolish their historic home stadium – the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, Italy – due to safety concerns surrounding the 10,000 seats.
‘EXPRESS’ stated that a large portion of the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples has been closed off to fans since 2019 when vibrational problems emerged after metal fencing at the stadium was replaced with glass.
The Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, also known as the SSC Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in the City of Naples that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football.
The 54,726-capacity Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, formerly known as the San Paolo Stadium, is a stadium in the Western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the fourth largest football stadium in Italy after the 80,018-capacity San Siro Stadium in Milan, the 72,698-capacity Stadio Olimpico in Rome and the 58,270-capacity San Nicola Stadium in Bari. It hosted five games at the 1990 World Cup.
The above venue is also used as a multipurpose sporting venue with a running track and numerous gyms for boxing, martial arts and wrestling.
‘EXPRESS’ further stated that the SSC Napoli have been playing at a reduced capacity as a result with the previous figure of 64,000 dropping to 54,725. The club Chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis is reportedly growing concerned over foregone matchday revenue.
The Napoli chiefs will investigate whether they can fix the problem area at the stadium. But De Laurentiis’s “real dream” is believed to be the construction of a brand-new ground which would see the old one demolished.
The 75-year-old spoke openly about those ambitions last March when he said, “I asked [the architects] to design a new, very modern stadium and we have met with those who work in the Bagnoli district (Naples, Italy). I believe that the Mayor of Naples (Gaetano Manfredi) would also like to assist with the plans to bring a new stadium to Bagnoli. The project already began in October and it will still take another 18 months. So, we will be able to lay down the first bricks in around 18 months. From then, we are confident that we will be able to build everything within another 12 months.”
Construction started on Napoli’s current ground in 1948 and they started playing there just over a decade later. Formerly known as the San Paolo Stadium it was renovated in 1990 and again in 2019 before being renamed in honor of their former player – the soccer legend Diego Maradona – in 2020. Maradona played some of his best football for the ‘Gli Azzurri’ scoring 115 goals in 259 games between 1984 and 1991.
Napoli is currently hunting down their second Serie A title in three seasons with the former Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and the Chelsea F.C. (UK) Manager Antonio Conte at the helm.
Fixing Closed Area
‘talkSPORT’ stated that he is keen to increase support in order to boost the club’s income from ticket sales as he looks at a way to fix the closed area.
Mayor Manfredi stated, “Changing the Maradona style was a priority for us. Today, it must be a shared choice with Napoli. There is no public funding except for a small part. Calcio Napoli is considering the possibility of renovating the current stadium, or building a new one. We are cooperating as much as possible because having a modern stadium in Naples is one of the priorities we have as an administration.”
‘talkSPORT’ further stated that plans are also in place for a new sports hall and improved public transport to be constructed in the area around the stadium.
Meanwhile, the space left by demolishing the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is expected to be used for a new arena.
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