Acting upon a proposal from the Mayor of Genoa Silvia Salis, the Councilor for Heritage, Municipality of Genoa, Davide Patrone, and the Councilor for Public Works, City of Genoa, Massimo Ferrante, the City Council recently approved the resolution establishing the surface rights of the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy, the Villa Musso Piantelli (a historic 16th-century patrician villa located in the Marassi neighborhood of Genoa) and the appurtenant areas for a maximum period of 90 years.
The overall goal is to award the venue revamp contracts by the end of March 2027 and complete the redevelopment work of the Luigi Ferraris Stadium by the end of March 2031 keeping in mind the EURO 2032 event.
The 33,205-seat Luigi Ferraris Stadium, also known as Marassi from the name of the neighborhood where it is located, is a multiuse stadium in Genoa, Italy. The home of the Serie A team Genoa CFC and the Serie B team UC Sampdoria it opened in 1911 and is the oldest stadium still in use for football and other sports in Italy.
The Luigi Ferraris Stadium redevelopment is planned to take place with a joint €100M–€110M project advanced by the venue tenants Genoa CFC and UC Sampdoria to modernize the venue ahead of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) EURO 2032.
State-of-the-art Stadium
‘Genoa Smart’ quoted Mayor Salis as stating, “From the very beginning I wanted two objectives to be part of the Luigi Ferraris Stadium redevelopment – to provide Genoa an avant-garde stadium high on the safety quotient and maintaining heritage in public ownership. We are creating conditions to facilitate robust investment for the stadium redecoration project. The tender exercise will have to be transparent and the benefits must percolate down to the Genoese and the Luigi Ferraris Stadium must be maintained from time to time. The fans will have to be provided an enriching experience and the ingress and egress points of the stadium will have to be seamless for the guests who will come to attend the concerts and the events. The redevelopment, along with the restoration of the Villa Musso Piantelli, will offer the neighborhood new spaces and opportunities for pursuing cultural and social activities throughout the week. We continue to work towards the 2032 European Championship bid with the goal of providing the city with a snappy facility capable of meeting the needs of the people for many years to come.”
Nyon (Switzerland)-based the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the governing body of football in Europe and one of FIFA’s six continental confederations for association football consisting of 55 national associations.
The 2032 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA EURO 2032 or simply EURO 2032, will be the 19th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organized by the UEFA for the senior Men’s national teams of its member associations. Italy and Türkiye will host the tournament which is expected to take place between June and July 2032.
Surface Rights
‘Genoa Smart’ further stated that the above development follows the resolution adopted on July 30th in which the Council confirmed public interest in the redevelopment project of the Luigi Ferraris Stadium through a public-private partnership (PPP) that envisages a private investment of approximately €108 million. The surface rights will be granted to the successful bidder selected through the floating of a public tender. The Genova Stadium Srl, jointly owned by the Genoa Cricket and Football Club SpA and UC Sampdoria SpA, is the promoter of the entire development.
Building Rights
The terms and conditions, subject to any improved offers in the tender process, include free use of the building rights for the first 50 years and payment to the Municipality in the form of a fee in installments from the 51st year until the expiration date. The total value of the right is estimated at €17.17 million and no direct financial provision from the Municipality is envisaged.
Public Ownership
The concessionaire will be responsible for the construction and the management, the ordinary and the extraordinary maintenance and the maintenance obligations of the complex. The ownership of the stadium will remain public: The establishment of the surface rights does not imply the transfer of full ownership of the complex. Upon expiration, or in the event of early termination, the stadium, the Villa Musso Piantelli and all the completed works will return to the full ownership of the Municipality as provided for in the agreement. The Municipality will be able to use the complex for 20 days in a year to organize events completely free of charge but it has to keep the sports competition calendar in mind and accord priority to it.
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