Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has described the club’s Diego Armando Maradona stadium as a “dump” and said it urgently needs to be replaced.
De Laurentiis strongly criticized the old stadium and called on the Naples authorities to allow him to build a new stadium to increase revenues and enable the club to compete with its rivals in northern Italy and Europe.
Speaking to the Football Business Forum in Milan, De Laurentiis highlighted Napoli’s inability to compete financially with rivals Milan and Inter Milan, who can extract up to €14 million ($16 million) from Champions League matches.
“We can only have up to three million in Maradona’s warehouse. That’s a big difference, isn’t it?
“I said the same thing when (Carlo) Ancelotti arrived (in 2018). Paris Saint-Germain pays the same rent for their stadium as we do, but they have complete exclusivity and earn 100 million euros a year, while we only have access for three days: before the match, during and after the match.”
“It’s an old stadium, with an athletics track and even a ditch that pushes fans away.”
Milan and Inter have announced plans to demolish the San Siro and replace it with a modern arena after purchasing it from the city council for 197 million euros ($226 million).
De Laurentiis, who said he would finance a new 70,000-seat stadium for Napoli, added: “The authorities here are football’s biggest enemies. They don’t realize that there are 25 million potential voters who care about this sport.”
“We need more flexibility. Let clubs build or transform stadiums with integrated housing projects. This revenue can support long-term investment.”
Napoli, the Italian League title holder, is currently at the top of the standings, one point behind Inter, Milan and Roma, before Sunday’s match against Bologna.
Antonio Conte’s side drew 0-0 at home to Como and Eintracht Frankfurt in their previous two matches and are still without the injured Alex Meret, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
Bologna, which is four points behind the leaders in sixth place, also drew 0-0 in their last match at home against Brann in the Europa League.
They will be boosted by the return of winger Riccardo Orsolini, but Jens Odgaard and Juan Miranda are injury doubts.
