"Having a stadium with a capacity of 30,000 spectators will allow us to host major international events, something that hasn't happened since Vasco Rossi's concert on June 18, 1991. Fortunately, the European Championships have arrived; it will give the city a space for conferences and many other activities that won't be just football or how we imagine a facility like this today." These are the words with which Massimo Zedda, mayor of Cagliari, concluded the more than three hours of discussion in the City Council on the new stadium, a debate that came almost two weeks after the meeting (a turning point) with UEFA .
The project is nearing its final stages, with the concession fee already finalized ("€100,000 for 25 years, €200,000 for the other 25," specified Sports Councilor Giuseppe Macciotta) and the Economic and Financial Plan (PEF) expected to be approved by the City Council shortly. This will be followed by a vote in the Council on the building rights and the public interest of the project. "We aim to launch the international public tender by June-July, respecting UEFA's stringent deadlines for its bid for the European Championships," added Macciotta.
Numerous opinions were expressed in the Chamber, where even the opposition (which has raised doubts) did not vote "no" to the project . "I will only believe in the construction of the stadium once I see the first stone being laid. From a license fee perspective, the Municipality is making a good deal, but looking at the numbers, I see overestimations of revenue and underestimations of costs, especially maintenance costs," wondered Pierluigi Mannino (Brothers of Italy). "It seems to me that there are some critical issues: it will last for 50 years without stress tests, meaning that once the project is up and running, it will have no problems. Unlike what happened during Covid. And we are faced with an extraordinary public investment," commented Giuseppe Farris (CiViCa 2024).