Diego Armando Maradona's stadium is facing an upgrade to prepare it for EURO 2032, with a dispute in the background between the city authorities and the Napoli club over the future of the venue. Will a compromise be found in time?

Sponsorship without a name change?

One of the main threads of debate is the idea of getting sponsorship for Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, while keeping its current name. Councillor Gennaro Esposito of Azione proposes that sponsors could advertise their brands in designated indoor and outdoor areas of the venue.

Similar models operate in other Italian cities such as Bologna, where Stadio Renato Dall'Ara is financed through a public-private partnership. Such an arrangement would enable the necessary works to be financed quickly, while preserving the facility's character as a tribute to the greatest footballer in Naples' history, Diego Armando Maradona.

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Need to modernise and maintain Stadio Maradona

Stadio San Paolo in the Fuorigrotta district has served as the sporting arena for Napoli for years. Despite numerous upgrades, such as the reconstruction of the athletics track ahead of the 2019 Universiade and improvements to the sanitary infrastructure, the facility requires constant maintenance. Esposito pointed out the need for regular work to prevent the degradation of the stadium and the need for costly emergency interventions.

In the proposed resolution, Esposito highlights that ongoing maintenance includes toilets, benches, entrances and the athletics track. He also points out that such infrastructure can contribute to the organisation of sporting events at national and international level. In this context, Esposito advocates a model of the stadium as a multifunctional space, open to a variety of sports.

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EURO 2032 and race against time

Stadio Maradona has been identified as one of the five Italian venues that would host EURO 2032. However, for this to happen, extensive modernisation work is required . The Minister of Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, is calling for cooperation between all stakeholders, including Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis.

Abodi stresses that key decisions on the matter must be taken by the beginning of 2025 at the latest, to allow the administrative and construction processes to begin. The minister also pointed out that the stadium should be modern but also fully accessible to people with disabilities, which is one of his priorities, and one that few people pay attention to.

The situation is complicated by the disagreement between the city authorities and the president of the Napoli club. De Laurentiis is opting for a futuristic vision of a new stadium, while Manfredi is betting on modernising the current facility. Both sides seem to be waiting for the other's initiative, leading to an impasse, which is holding back progress on the issue.

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Speaking to Radio CRC, Minister Abodi stressed that the important thing is that if you start construction, you do it with a shared belief. He also suggested that it is possible to build a new stadium in a different location if the current talks fail.

In addition to the technical issues, Abodi highlighted the importance of the stadium as a social space that can contribute to community building and counter social problems. At the Tutta nata storia event, the minister spoke about how sport can help young people in difficult neighbourhoods, such as Scampia or Caivano, to break free from the influence of organised crime.