As part of the investigation into the sale of San Siro, searches were carried out this morning at the Milan City Hall, at the MI Stadium of AC Milan and Inter Milan, and at the homes of former managers and consultants of the two teams , as well as of former city councilors Giancarlo Tancredi and Ada De Cesaris and the general director of Palazzo Marino, Christian Malangone.
The investigation into the sale of San Siro, coordinated by prosecutors Giovanna Cavalleri, Paolo Filippini, and Giovanni Polizzi and entrusted to the military of the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Milan Guardia di Finanza, alleges bid-rigging and the disclosure of official secrets . In addition to former city councilors Giancarlo Tancredi and Ada De Cesaris and former managers and consultants for Inter and Milan, the crimes also include Simona Collarini, former head of the Municipality's Urban Regeneration sector and then sole person responsible for the stadium proceedings, and Fabrizio Grena and Marta Spaini, consultants for Inter and Milan, respectively .
The searches—including those of third parties—and seizures of cell phones underway today were made necessary by the development of the content of chats and emails collected in the major investigation into the management of urban planning in Milan, which last summer led to several arrests, later overturned by the Court of Review and the Supreme Court of Cassation. Tancredi, Malangone, and De Cesaris, among others, are already under investigation in the major investigation into urban planning.
The hypothesis to be tested is that the sale of the Meazza to Inter and Milan, for which the Municipality collected €197 million, was a transaction that may have favored private interests at the expense of the public interest . The suspicion is that the stadium law was "used" to support the urbanization project of the area and therefore of certain construction companies.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, there were "informal agreements and collusion" among the nine suspects in the Milan investigation—namely, between officials of the Municipality of Milan and managers and consultants of AC Milan and Inter— to "disturb," or manipulate, between 2019 and 2025, the "administrative procedure aimed at the sale/development of the Great Urban Function (GFU) 'San Siro'" and, in particular, also the "determination of the content of the public notice for the collection of expressions of interest relating" to the Meazza stadium and surrounding areas, "adopted on March 24, 2025."
In particular, among others, Giancarlo Tancredi , who was the councilor for Urban Regeneration, and Christian Malangone , the city's general manager, between November 4 and 5, 2021, "in violation of the duties inherent to their positions," allegedly shared with Ada De Cesaris, a former councilor, lawyer, and "consultant" for Inter, the proposed "Council Resolution No. 1379 of November 5, 2021, regarding the declaration of public interest, before it was brought to the attention of the City Council for discussion, possible amendments, approval, and subsequent publication." Thus, "they revealed official information that was supposed to remain secret."
Furthermore, Tancredi, according to the prosecutors, would have shared with Mark Van Huuksloot, who was manager of the Nerazzurri club , "the draft Resolution number 28 of 19.01.2023 at the conclusion of the public debate before it was brought to the attention of the Municipal Council for discussion, possible amendments, approval and subsequent publication", again revealing "office information which was supposed to remain secret".
The nine defendants, as stated in the charge of disturbance, "through informal agreements and collusion between them, in the context of the administrative procedure aimed at the sale/development of the Great Urban Function (Gfu) 'San Siro'", which developed "over the years (approximately between 2017 and 2025)", "disturbed the administrative procedure aimed at determining the content of the Public Notice for the collection of expressions of interest relating to the real estate complex of the Great Urban Function (Gfu) 'San Siro'" , including "the G. Meazza stadium, adopted on 24.3.2025". The notice, the prosecutors write, "is to be considered equivalent to a tender as it is aimed at 'Verifying any further proposals relating to the real estate complex'" to be placed "in competition" with "the purchase proposal formulated by FC Internazionale SpA and AC Milan SpA" on March 11, 2025.
An alleged disturbance "created by the preliminary phase of the proceedings and continued until the substance of the content" of that notice was established. Malangone is under investigation "in his capacity as Director General of the Municipality of Milan since 2018," Tancredi "as Project Manager for the decommissioning of the Stadium" from July 18, 2019 to October 29, 2021, and "Councilor for Urban Regeneration from October 2021 to July 2025." And Simona Collarini "as Director of the Specialized Planning and Programming Services Department, Project Manager for the decommissioning" of the Meazza Stadium "from October 29, 2021, and formerly Director of the Urban Regeneration Department of the Municipality of Milan from February 6, 2022 to February 28, 2025." Mark Van Huuksloot, then, as Inter's "agent" "from 15.11.2018 to 11.03.2025" and Alessandro Antonello as Nerazzurri CEO "from 26.10.18 to 06.03.25".
De Cesaris is also under investigation as a "consultant" for Inter Milan "in relation to the renovation and development of the stadium" and the surrounding public area. Fabrizio Grena is also under investigation as a director of Emerald Pine Capital Italia srl and a consultant for Inter Milan. Giuseppe Bonomi is also under investigation as a "director of the company Sportlifecity srl, owned by AC Milan, as well as a consultant" for the club "for the new San Siro stadium." Finally, Marta Spaini is under investigation as a consultant for AC Milan "in relation to the renovation and development of the stadium" and the surrounding areas.
The defendants also allegedly shared "details regarding potential pending cultural constraints" on the stadium, "establishing and agreeing that the administrative sale procedure" should "be concluded no later than November 10, 2025, for the sole purpose of neutralizing the legal and public interest constraint recognized by the Ministry of Culture."
(Unioneonline)
