The controversy surrounding the Artemio Franchi stadium continues. This time it is the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano who has his say, who through an official note on the Mic website spoke about the works affecting the stadium in Florence.
“I follow with great attention the findings of the ACF Fiorentina regarding the redevelopment of the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence contained in a recent note addressed to the Municipality of Florence, as well as to me for information – writes the minister -. In fact, the company expresses strong doubts and concerns about the real awareness of the general vision of the investment by the Municipality of Florence, as well as about the actual possibility of completing the overall and real redevelopment of the stadium. It is surprising, moreover, that in planning an intervention of this magnitude and with such an important impact on the community, the Municipality of Florence did not adopt suitable measures from the beginning to guarantee, where necessary, continuity in the use of events as an alternative to the Stadium Franchi, to minimize the inconvenience for the Florentine fans and for the entire community so strongly complained about by the sports club”.
The Minister then continued: “The redevelopment of the Franchi stadium is financed for 95 million euros from the resources of the National Plan for investments complementary to the PNRR under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture. Therefore, as with all the other interventions included in the National Plan, the MiC is engaged in careful monitoring of the implementation of the stadium redevelopment intervention by the Municipality of Florence and in rigorous supervision to ensure that public resources are used effectively serving the actual needs of the citizens of Florence and the nation”.
The response of the Municipality of Florence
The response from the Municipality of Florence was not long in coming, which after a few minutes replied as follows: “The Municipality has done what is foreseen in the signed agreements and the Ministry has monitored punctual compliance to the point that at the beginning of December 2023 it requested formal certification on the possibility of awarding the works by 2023; on 28 December last, it formally requested to receive the award provision by 31 December; in March 2024 it formally requested to receive the delivery report by 31 March works; last April, technicians from the Ministry of Culture carried out an inspection to verify the actual start of the works. The Ministry of Culture is the first party interested in ensuring that the works proceed, in compliance with the agreements, regulations and related constraints. to financing”.
