Police raids as part of probe into San Siro sale

Italian financial police raided Milan city council’s offices on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the sale of the San Siro stadium to private equity-backed Serie A clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. Computers and mobile phones were seized during the raids and more than 10 people have been placed under investigation on suspicion of bid-rigging, according to people with knowledge of the details of the case. 

A press conference scheduled for Tuesday morning at Palazzo Marino, the council’s headquarters, to unveil the venue’s renovation was cancelled at the last minute.  The football clubs are not under investigation.

Milan’s city council agreed to sell the 100-year-old arena to AC Milan and Inter Milan, which share the venue, for close to €200 mn last year. RedBird acquired AC Milan in a €1.2bn deal in 2022, while Oaktree Capital took control of Inter Milan two years later after the club’s Chinese owners failed to repay a €400 mn loan in time.

After a years-long tussle with local authorities, activist groups and the cultural heritage directorate, the clubs won the city’s approval for their €1.5 bn redevelopment project. The decision to sell and the terms of the deal for one of Europe’s most famous football stadiums have attracted widespread criticism.

The two clubs plan to partly demolish the old arena and build a new one next to it. Activist groups and some local councillors have argued that the sale price, which includes the land surrounding the stadium, was too low.

 Prosecutors are trying to establish whether the sale favoured private over public interests, according to the people familiar with the situation. The investigation was prompted by several complaints lodged by groups of local residents opposing the sale and demolition, they added. 

 Searches were also conducted at M-I, the company jointly owned by AC Milan and Inter Milan to manage the stadium, as well as the homes of two former city councillors and former managers linked to the two football clubs. One person close to the investigation said the probe was linked to a broader investigation into Milan’s real estate development that led to several arrests last year before being overturned by Italy’s supreme court. 

Tuesday’s raids followed a series of witness interviews by Milanese prosecutors over the past week, according to the person close to the investigation. Milan city council, Inter Milan and AC Milan all declined to comment.