Udinese to Push On with Stadium Development After Financial Backing Received

August 2, 2013

Serie A football club Udinese will proceed with its stadium redevelopment plans after a financial deal was signed with Istituto per il Credito Sportivo (ICS).

The news was hailed by club owner Gianpaolo Pozzo who described the situation as being equivalent to Udinese winning the Serie A title.

Reports in the Corriere della Sera newspaper say ICS will provide €20m ($26.4m) of the €40m ($53m) cost needed to redevelop the Stadio Friuli, denture Udinese’s home since 1976.

ICS extraordinary commissioner Paolo D’Alessio added: “This will be a key installation for Italian football. Udinese has shown that with determination you can build a stadium without the help of state law. This is a momentous day for Italian sport.”

The stadium can currently hold 41,000, but for football games the capacity is limited to 30,500.

The redevelopment will actually scale the stadium back down to 25,000 seats, with the aim of enhancing fan experience.

Serie A teams have been held back by deteriorating stadiums and Udinese’s project will be the first major work since Juventus opened their new home ground in 2011.

Udinese owner Pozzo commented: “The new stadium is our Scudetto. The new Stadio Friuli in the province will become an important structure for Italian football. I am very pleased with how we developed this project, together we were able to break down the most difficult hurdle – bureaucracy. It was a joint effort.”