Milan City Hall Raided Over Controversial San Siro Stadium Sale Investigation

Italian financial police raided Milan's city hall and the offices of stadium management company M-I Stadio on Tuesday, as prosecutors announced nine people are under investigation for alleged bid rigging and disclosure of official secrets linked to the sale of the iconic San Siro stadium to AC Milan and Inter Milan for 197 million euros.

The San Siro stadium, formally known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, has been the shared home of AC Milan and Inter Milan for decades and is one of the most recognized football venues in Europe. The city of Milan initiated the process for the potential sale of the stadium and surrounding land in 2019, with the administrative procedure running between 2017 and 2025. The stadium was used for the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in February 2026, even as both clubs continued to play their home matches there. The sale, finalized on October 1, 2025, paved the way for a reported 1.5 billion euro redevelopment scheme that would see the historic ground demolished and replaced with a modern facility.

The Guardia di Finanza executed search warrants at Palazzo Marino, the offices of M-I Stadio, and the private residences of suspects, seizing computers and mobile phones. The operation was carried out under a decree signed by investigating judge Roberto Crepaldi, who accepted a request from prosecutors Giovanna Cavalleri, Paolo Filippini, and Giovanni Polizzi. According to the search warrant, the nine suspects allegedly tampered with the administrative procedure for the stadium sale "through informal agreements and collusion among themselves" over a period stretching from 2017 to 2025. Investigators focused specifically on a "collection of expressions of interest" published on March 24, 2025 and closed on April 30, 2025, examining whether that process complied with legal requirements or whether an international tender should have been held instead. The probe is described as an offshoot of a broader urban planning investigation in Milan that led to several arrests last year, though those arrests were subsequently overturned by Italy's Supreme Court.

Nine suspects span city hall, clubs, and consultancies The nine individuals under investigation include former Milan city councilors Giancarlo Tancredi and Ada De Cesaris, the latter of whom also served as deputy mayor, as well as Christian Malangone, the general manager of Palazzo Marino. From the clubs' side, former Inter Corporate CEO Alessandro Antonello and former Inter manager Mark Van Huukslot are named, alongside Giuseppe Bonomi, president of Sport Life City, a subsidiary controlled by AC Milan. Simona Collarini, described as the former head of the Urban Regeneration sector of the municipality and later the sole project manager responsible for the stadium disposal procedure, is also under investigation. Rounding out the list are consultants Fabrizio Grena, who worked for Inter, and Marta Spaini, who worked for Milan. Tancredi, Malangone, and De Cesaris were already under investigation in the separate, wider urban planning inquiry that preceded this case.

197 (million euros) — Sale price of San Siro and surrounding land

Informal networks allegedly shaped the tender's rules According to documents from the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, investigators suspect a network of informal relations between municipal administration representatives and figures linked to the two clubs influenced the definition of the rules governing the public tender. Prosecutors allege that internal information, including drafts of resolutions not yet made official, was transmitted in advance to consultants and managers of the clubs in violation of confidentiality obligations. Among the specific episodes cited is the early disclosure of acts intended for the City Council, relating to both the declaration of public interest and the outcomes of the public debate, which should have remained confidential until formal approval. Investigators described a possible "shared direction" that, between 2017 and 2025, influenced key stages of the administrative process. The investigation was opened following a series of complaints received by the prosecutor's office, including one signed by deputy mayor Luigi Corbani and music promoter Claudio Trotta. A further question under examination is whether the stadium law was used to support a wider urbanization project for the surrounding area, potentially benefiting certain construction companies beyond the clubs themselves.

2019 warning from architect Boeri went unheeded, documents show Court documents cited in reporting include a 2019 exchange of messages between architect Stefano Boeri and Milan mayor Beppe Sala, in which Boeri warned that private interests were prevailing over public ones in the San Siro operation. „Be careful, because a serious precedent is being created of substituting private interests and private decisions for the criteria of information and choice — of the Municipality — based on the collective interest” — Stefano Boeri via Il Fatto Quotidiano Neither Boeri nor Sala is reported to be under investigation in the current case. Milan city council, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and M-I Stadio had not provided immediate comment on the developments, according to reporting by The Independent. The investigation's central hypothesis remains whether the sale of the Meazza to Inter and Milan, for which the municipality collected 197 million euros, was structured in a way that favored private interests to the detriment of the public interest. Both clubs continue to play their home matches at San Siro while planning for the new stadium proceeds.