Artemio Franchi Stadium rejig work hangs fire

Image: Municipality of Florence

The Serie A football club ACF Fiorentina has said that it will ask the Municipality of Florence to suspend work on the repurposing of their home ground – the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy –stating that it is not open to the idea of observing its centenary celebrations in 2026 (the club was founded in 1926) with construction work simultaneously on.

‘QUOTIDIANOSPORTIVO’ stated that the above announcement was made recently by the newly appointed General Manager of Fiorentina, Alessandro Ferrari, during a presser held recently to introduce Raffaele Palladino as the club’s new Coach.

The ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina, is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany (Italy). The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the current club was refounded in August 2002 following bankruptcy. Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence, only four clubs have played in more Serie A (the top of the Italian football league system) seasons.

The 43,147-capacity Artemio Franchi Stadium is a football stadium in Florence, Italy. It is currently the home of ACF Fiorentina. The old nickname of the stadium was ‘Comunale’.

The top-flight club and the Municipality of Florence are spearheading the redecoration work of the stadium. However, both the entities are locking horns over a number of issues.

Informed Ferrari, “We will send an official communication to the Municipality of Florence so as not to begin work on the Franchi. Starting work without proper financial buttress makes the whole exercise difficult. Moreover, we cannot observe the club’s centenary celebrations with cranes on the site.”

To the above, a Municipality of Florence spokesperson stated, “Please remember, however, that at the end of April an agreement was signed by Fiorentina which provides for the start of construction work.”

‘QUOTIDIANOSPORTIVO’ further stated that it was revealed in March that redecoration work at the Franchi could be extended until 2028 in a move that would enable the club to remain at the stadium for the duration of the project.

The revamp work includes a new roof for the facility and new grandstands which will bring fans closer to the action. Once spruced up, the venue would boast a capacity of 40,000.

In January, the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, confirmed that Fiorentina will play at the Franchi next season while the rejig work of the stadium is on. The arena will be operating at a reduced capacity of 22,000.

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