The bidding process for the 2027 men’s Champions League final will be re-opened after UEFA opted not to assign it to Milan’s San Siro due to a lack of clarity over the stadium’s refurbishment plans.
The decision was taken by UEFA’s executive committee after Milan’s city council could not guarantee that San Siro’s refurbishment works would not impact the stadium and its surrounding area during the period the 2027 final is scheduled to take place.
UEFA says a decision on the new hosts is expected in May or June 2025.
In July 2023, UEFA announced it had received two expressions of interest in hosting the 2026 and 2027 Champions League finals, one from the Puskas Arena in Budapest and one from San Siro.
In May, UEFA’s executive committee awarded the 2026 final to the Puskas Arena but suspended the decision on the host venue for the 2027 final until September, pending the Italian Football Association (FICG) submitting refurbishment plans for San Siro.
The 75,00 capacity stadium first opened in 1926 and has been shared by Inter Milan and AC Milan since 1947. It has been the subject of various renovation proposals in recent years, with plans to refurbish the stadium or build a new venue both muted.
This month, mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala confirmed Inter and Milan had rejected plans to renovate the San Siro and favoured building a new stadium in the same area.
The two clubs also have potential separate proposals for new stadiums of their own. In September 2023, Milan announced plans to build a new 70,000-capacity stadium in the suburb of San Donato. This marked the first sign of the club’s intention to explore pursuing a lone project rather than persisting with plans to regenerate the area around San Siro with their city rivals. Inter have plans of their own to build a new stadium in Rozzano.
Both Milan and Inter had revealed plans to construct a modern 60,000-seat stadium to replace San Siro in 2019. However, the project stalled due to political opposition and Italy’s heritage regulations, which safeguard historic structures.
San Siro previously hosted the European Cup final in 1965 and 1970, in addition to the Champions League final in 2001 and most recently in 2016.
The 2025 final will be hosted at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
(Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
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