Italian Serie A football club Napoli has signalled its intent to move to a new stadium away from its historic Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
AS said that in an official statement, the club has revealed its intention to build a brand-new stadium from the ground up after meeting with UEFA officials in relation to hosting Euro 32 matches at the existing venue.
The Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, also known as 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.
AS said club officials recently met with representatives from UEFA, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the City of Naples, and Napoli’s legal representative, Arturo Testa, to discuss the stadium’s viability as a potential venue for Euro 2032, which will be co-hosted by Italy and Turkey.
Although no final decisions were made during the meeting, the tone was reported as being far from optimistic.
UEFA laid out the minimum requirements for stadiums hosting Euros’ matches and stressed the importance of close collaboration between the club and local authorities for any proposed upgrades.
However, Napoli made its stance clear: the current stadium doesn’t meet the standards for a top-tier international tournament.
According to the club’s statement, Napoli expressed its belief that the Maradona is not suitable to host Euro 2032. UEFA and FIGC have not approved the city’s public renovation plan.
Napoli said, “After two years of studies paid for by the club, we excluded the compatibility of investment at the Maradona. Even those changes put forward by the Council, which are unsatisfactory, would not allow the stadium to reach the standards of a modern arena.
“Napoli intend to invest its own resources for the construction of a new stadium, capable of hosting EURO 2032 as well.
“The club has identified a degraded area of the city, where the construction of a new stadium would give a significant contribution cost-free to the city’s plans for urban renewal.”
Sources suggest the club has already identified an unused area within the city large enough to accommodate the project.
Beyond football, the new development could also help revitalize a neglected part of Naples, though the exact location has not yet been disclosed.
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