Category sport-news

After Milan City Hall approved the sale of San Siro, known as La Scala, to the city’s two football giants, early on Tuesday, one of the world’s most well-known stadiums is set to be destroyed.

After looking at sites in nearby suburbs, Inter and AC Milan both threatened to leave the city if the sale had not been approved.

After more than 11 hours of discussion at city hall, 24 people voted in favor and 20 opposed of the sale of the iconic stadium and adjacent land, enough for Italy’s economic capital to declare that Inter Milan and AC Milan will jointly own the iconic stadium and the adjacent land.

After a long night of discussion, which included the discussion of a number of proposed amendments, the resolution’s confirmation didn’t arrive until nearly 4 o’clock (UTC).

READ MORE: Saliba Signs New Long-Term Deal At Arsenal

After years of uncertainty over a project worth 1.2 billion euros, Inter and AC Milan, both owned by US investment funds, and Giuseppe Sala, mayor of Italy’s economic capital, finally received what they wanted.

Following the abandonment of a previous project that left the land open to the public in 2023, the clubs suggested purchasing the site in March.

Inter and AC Milan will control just over 28 hectares (70 acres) of public land in a densely populated area on the western outskirts of Milan as long as the sale is completed by November 10 when a public building protection order prohibiting the demolition of the San Siro is in place.

A modern 71, 500-capacity arena will be constructed on the land to the west of the San Siro, which is currently used for matchday car parking and a local park.

San Siro will almost completely be replaced when the new ground is constructed in San Francisco, with the design work from Foster and Partners and MANICA taking care of the design of the new parkland, office, and entertainment facilities.

Inter and AC Milan will continue to play their matches to crowds of up to 75, 000 until 2031, when the clubs hope to have the new stadium finished. It will still take some time before the bulldozers arrive.

Political rage

The right-wing Forza Italia party, which was founded by former prime minister and ex-AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi, abstained from council meetings to support the clubs and Sala.

The hard-right League and Brothers of Italy, as well as a number of councillors from the left-leaning majority, which supports Sala’s local government, both had to cast a ballot against the proposal.

What councillors in Milan perceive as a bypass of local democracy, with Sala trying to avoid being the mayor who authorised the departure of two of the biggest football clubs in the world, has sparked outrage across the political spectrum in Milan.

Some council members criticized the proposal, which did not provide any details about the development of the new stadium and the surrounding area, and also criticized the proposal’s price as being too low for such a desirable real estate market.

Milan is one of the potential candidates to host matches at Euro 2032, which is scheduled to be jointly hosted by Italy and Turkey, so the FIGC will be pleased to hear the vote.

By October of next year, the FIGC will be able to present new venues or those that need to be redeveloped to UEFA, as long as construction is completed by March 2027.

Only Juventus’ Allianz Stadium in Turin, one of Italy’s 14 potential candidates, currently meets the standards set by the governing body of European football.

The Premier League side announced on Tuesday that William Saliba has a new, long-term deal with Arsenal.

The France defender is reportedly finalizing a five-year deal that will keep him at the club until 2030. His previous contract was scheduled to expire in 2027.

Saliba, 24, was supposed to stay at Emirates despite Real Madrid’s earlier rumored interest.

The center-back first started for the Gunners in 2019 before going on a number of loan spells before becoming a regular member of Mikel Arteta’s squad in 2022/23.

READ MORE: FIFA Sanctions South Africa For Fielding Ineligible Player In World Cup Qualifier

Saliba has since played a key role in an Arsenal side that has finished second in each of the previous three Premier League seasons.

“It’s like home. We have a strong staff, a strong squad, and a strong team. The ideal setting for me is the coach, Saliba said.

“Every day when I have the opportunity to wear this shirt, I enjoy it.” I make an effort to give everything, and I’m going to give even more to this team and the fans.

Manager Arteta remarked, “William is loved by all the players and staff, and that speaks volumes about his character, commitment, and daily attitude.

William has grown a lot since joining us, accepted responsibility, and made a lasting impression on our supporters and the entire club.

Electronic Arts, the largest all-cash private equity purchase in history, announced on Monday that the company would be led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to acquire it for $55 billion.

Additionally, the consortium includes President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former White House advisor Jared Kushner, both of whom are US investors Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.

In a statement, EA Chairman and CEO Andrew Wilson said, “This moment is a powerful recognition of their remarkable work,” adding that the agreement would help “unlock new opportunities on a global stage.”

READ MORE: Spotify Takes Transparency Measures to Combat AI Abuse.

In its most recent fiscal year, EA reported revenue of $7.5 billion, including Madden NFL, The Sims, and Battlefield, a well-known franchise.

Early 2026 is when the acquisition is scheduled to close, and EA shareholders and regulatory bodies must approve the deal.

PIF, which already owns a 9.9% stake in EA, will carry over its previous investment as part of the deal.

The consortium’s members will have approximately $36 billion in equity and JPMorgan Chase will have about $20 billion in debt as collateral for the transaction.

Under Wilson’s continued leadership, EA will be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange and have its headquarters in Redwood City, California.

As Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy beyond oil revenues, PIF’s latest major investment in the gaming industry is the deal.

World football’s governing body FIFA announced on Monday that South Africa had forfeited a World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho for fielding an ineligible player.

In Group C of the African Zone qualifiers, South Africa is now trailing Benin on goal difference behind South Africa’s 2-0 victory on March 21 in Polokwane by a 3-0 defeat, leaving Lesotho in fifth place.

The FIFA Disciplinary Code’s disciplinary committee alleged that South Africa had violated Article 19 by playing Teboho Mokoena after the midfielder had received two yellow cards against Benin and then Zimbabwe.

Read more about Morocco’s participation in the 2026 World Cup’s first African qualifier.

As he prepares to welcome Jose Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca claims there is “no reason to panic” over Chelsea’s mini-slump. He cites the impact of a string of red cards.

The Blues, who defeated Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday, had a successful start to the season after winning the Club World Cup in July.

However, they desperately need a win over the Portuguese side at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to begin their European campaign after losing three of their previous four games.

After his team was reduced to 10 men in their Premier League defeats by Manchester United and Brighton, Maresca is aware that Chelsea will have to resolve their disciplinary issues.

Additionally, they lost to Bayern Munich in the first Champions League game.

Maresca, who is currently in his second year at Stamford Bridge, gave a calm explanation of the subpar performance at his Monday press conference.

Chelsea has lost four of their past five games, according to the Italian, and a player has been dismissed.

Maresca acknowledged that making wiser choices in the wake of the sending-off between Brighton and United would have helped him.

He claimed that the only game his team had lost was earlier this month’s 3-1 defeat at German champion Bayern, which his team had won.

Knowing that football is a crazy world, he said, “For me personally, there is no reason for us to create panic.”

It’s a crazy world to play in if you lose five games in six months and have to say things to defend yourself.

I don’t believe we need to defend ourselves at this moment because I have a very positive feeling about our team.

Maresca claimed that facing Mourinho at Stamford Bridge would be an “absolute honor.”

The 62-year-old Portuguese was appointed as Benfica’s new coach earlier this month, just days after Fenerbahce fired the club.

In his two years at Chelsea, Mourinho helped the club become a trophy-winning force by bringing three Premier League titles and other silverware with him.

The injuries sustained by Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos, and Joao Pedro will be evaluated before the Benfica game against Brighton.

After leading 2-1 over Napoli, AC Milan asserted their position as the league’s top team despite having to play for more than 30 minutes with 10 men and had to play for more than 30 minutes.

Milan’s lead was doubled after the half-hour mark thanks to Christian Pulisic’s third-minute opener, Alexis Saelemaekers, and subsequent double-figure.

On goal difference, the American forward’s winning performance against a Napoli team that was hurt put Milan in first place with 12 points, ahead of both the champions and Roma, who lost 2-0 to Verona.

“What we did today was incredible,” he said. According to Pulisic, “it was a top, top performance.”

“The manager did a fantastic job of getting the best out of each player here,” said the manager. We demonstrated our quality on the pitch.

Youssouf Fofana was sent through on goal by Pulisic with a sensational pass that evoked his teammate Luka Modric shortly before he finished off a brilliant passing move. The forward has already scored six goals this season across all competitions.

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The 27-year-old made way for Davide Bartesaghi just before Napoli’s coolly slotted penalty in the 60th minute that brought them back into the match. Milan supporters applauded him as he made way for him.

Following Pervis Estupinan’s red card for pulling back Giovanni Di Lorenzo just as the Napoli man looked set to net from close range, Pulisic was shown the yellow card by coach Massimiliano Allegri.

As a result, Milan had to sit back and absorb the pressure from Napoli as Antonio Conte’s team advanced in an effort to reintroduce something to southern Italy.

When David Neres’ deflected shot in stoppage time struck the woodwork in the first minute of stoppage time, home fans screamed in delight as Milan won for the fourth time in a row.

After slipping to the top flight of Italy, Napoli now turn their attention to Sporting Lisbon’s Champions League game.

“We have to do better for their goals; it wasn’t easy going back so far, but we pressed hard and created chances,” Conte told DAZN.

Because we’re giving our opponents too much, there needs to be improvements.

Roma in The Hunt ,

With 11 minutes left, Matias Soule made it look like Roma would briefly finish second in the standings with Artem Dovbyk scoring his first goal of the season at the Stadio Olimpico.

After a sloppy performance in gloriously sunny Rome, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team hosts Lille on Thursday in the Europa League, level with two title contenders.

As this was our first three games in a week this season, a number of players had issues, according to Gasperini, who spoke to DAZN.

You could see that some players weren’t at their best, and we struggled more than we should have. “We had problems that we’ve not had in other games.”

Although Verona are 16th in the third and yet to win this season, Paolo Zanetti’s team performed well and should have equaled in the 28th minute when Gift Orban somehow hit the bar when given the opportunity to score from less than six yards out in front of an open goal.

Pisa, who had been on the verge of a first victory in a more than three decades, were forced to settle for a goalless draw with Tuscan rivals Fiorentina.

In the 71st minute, Henrik Meister headed home what appeared to be the opening goal, but VAR officials found him handling the ball in the lead-up to his shot.

Juan Cuadrado then struck the post shortly after, preventing Alberto Gilardino’s promoted team from relegation after two points in their first top-flight campaign since 1990/91.