UEFA President Ceferin Criticises Italy's Stadiums, Threatens Euro 2032 Role
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has issued a stark warning to Italy, suggesting the country could be stripped of its role as co-host for Euro 2032 due to the poor state of its football infrastructure. In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ceferin stated that Italian stadiums lag far behind those of other major European nations, placing the blame squarely on the country's political authorities rather than its football federation.
Ceferin's comments represent a significant escalation of long-standing concerns about Italy's ageing stadiums. "Italian politicians should perhaps ask themselves why Italy has one of the worst football infrastructures in Europe," the Slovenian official said. He added, "The fault does not lie with the Federation, but with the public authorities." Italy is scheduled to co-host the 2032 European Championship with Turkey, a plan ratified by UEFA just last year.
The public criticism comes during a difficult period for Italian football, which is still reeling from the national team's failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and the recent resignation of Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina. Ceferin's intervention adds a major off-pitch crisis to the sport's challenges in the country, directly questioning its ability to host a major international tournament.
Many of Italy's most iconic venues, such as the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and the San Siro in Milan, are municipally owned and have undergone only partial modernisations, often lacking the commercial facilities and fan experience standards of newer grounds in England, Germany, and Spain. Several club-led projects to build new stadiums have been stalled for years by bureaucratic and political hurdles.
The threat carries considerable weight, as UEFA has previously reassigned major events due to infrastructure or preparedness concerns. The governing body moved the 2020 Champions League final from Istanbul to Lisbon due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stripped Russia of the 2022 Champions League final following its invasion of Ukraine. While not an analogous situation, it demonstrates UEFA's willingness to enact changes.
For Italy, losing the hosting rights would be a profound embarrassment and a financial blow, depriving the country of the catalyst for investment that the tournament was supposed to provide. The comments will likely increase pressure on the Italian government and local authorities to accelerate long-delayed stadium projects, with clubs like Roma, Milan, and Inter all pursuing new builds. The FIGC, now under interim leadership, faces the urgent task of liaising between UEFA, the government, and clubs to address these criticisms head-on.
