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Hindustan Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Soccer-Italy needs to upgrade ageing stadiums for club revenue boost, Euro 2032
* Soccer-Italy needs to upgrade ageing stadiums for club revenue boost, Euro 2032 Future of San Siro unclear amid rebuild or renovate debate * Serie A clubs' matchday revenue lags behind Premier League * Italy plans to help fast-track stadium projects for Euro 2032 By Elvira Pollina, Alvise Armellini MILAN, - Milan's San Siro is one of the most famous stadiums in world soccer, but the storied home of AC Milan and Inter Milan is showing its age and lags behind what other major European clubs offer their fans. Italy is trying to raise its game when it comes to stadiums, pressed by foreign investors who have acquired a number of clubs including the two Milan giants, and also needing arenas that are fit for purpose when it co-hosts the 2032 Euros, with Turkey. But teams like AC Milan and Inter, as well as Lazio and Roma further south, are struggling to rebuild or renovate, wrangling with public bodies who often own stadiums, and getting caught up in red tape. The result is that only six Italian stadiums were built or redeveloped in the 2007-2024 period, compared with 19 in Germany, 13 in England and 12 in France, according to consultancy firm PwC. "At the San Siro stadium, we can't cook anything. The little food that we sell is all microwaved three minutes beforehand," AC Milan Chairman Paolo Scaroni told a PwC Italy event in March. He contrasted it to the situation in Britain, where Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium even features an in-built microbrewery "because the English like to drink beer, and we can't even cook a plate of spaghetti." The Tottenham stadium, designed by specialist company Populous, opened in 2019 at a cost of around 1 billion pounds and features a retractable pitch. It also hosts other events such as NFL games. GOVERNMENT HELP The Italian government is trying to help, with a plan in the works to appoint a special commissioner with power to fast-track projects worth 5 billion euros across different agencies, and speed up preparations for Euro 2032, the first major tournament in Italy since the 1990 World Cup. The Italia 90 tournament, when matches were played at 12 venues across the country, marked the last time Italy embarked on a serious round of stadium upgrades. "For Italian teams, sports facilities are the real gap with European peers," said Luigi De Siervo, Chief Executive Officer of Italy's top flight soccer league Serie A. Although crowds have risen to levels not seen since the early 2000s, Serie A clubs generated just 440 million euros in matchday revenue in 2023-24 according to a report from Deloitte less than half of what England's Premier League earned. "More modern arenas structurally generate higher match day revenues, they usually have a higher occupancy rate, more food outlets, with different price ranges, and pricier tickets," said Cristian Celoria, partner at consultancy firm PwC. EURO 2032 CONCERNS Besides frustrating club owners, Italy's lack of progress in redeveloping its sporting infrastructure could harm its role as a co-host of the Euros. Italy must give European soccer's ruling body UEFA a list of five stadiums to host Euro 2032 games by October next year. At present, among the 10 arenas Italy named in its initial bid document, only the Juventus one in Turin one of the few club-owned grounds in Italy is fit for the tournament, according to a UEFA official. The 41,000-seater venue was completed only in 2011, replacing the Stadio delle Alpi which was built for the 1990 World Cup. Venues needing redevelopment or new builds can be included in the final Euro 2032 shortlist, but the projects need to be fully financed and approved by next year's deadline, said the UEFA official, who asked not to be named. "The need for a special commissioner is becoming even more urgent, as next year we will undergo a series of checks that may even result in some matches being reallocated to Turkey," said De Siervo, the Serie A chief. However, the Italian Football Association remains confident it can meet the deadline, with work underway in Bologna and Florence and scope to bring Rome's Olympic Stadium and the current San Siro venue in line with specifications. FATE OF SAN SIRO The San Siro, with its striking spiral staircases wrapped around the outside of the stadium, was one of the symbols of Serie A's golden age in the 1990s, but much like Italian soccer in general, it has seen better days. AC Milan and Inter - owned by U.S. investment firms RedBird and Oaktree respectively - have billed as unfeasible a full revamp of the arena, officially known as the Giuseppe Meazza after a forward who played for both clubs in the 1920s-1940s. AC Milan and Inter are in talks to jointly buy the stadium, built in 1926, and the surrounding area from the Milan municipality as part of a 1.2 billion euro redevelopment including a real estate project. The plan, first presented in 2019, envisages the clubs continuing to use the 76,000-seater stadium until a new one is built nearby. Once that is ready, the old ground would be demolished except for a heritage section comprising part of its second tier. The clubs, however, face opposition from those who would like to preserve one of the temples of Italian soccer. "It is still a functional stadium. It can be modernised, and we have fought for that, but the problem is that no one is listening to our calls," said Luigi Corbani, president of a citizens' committee opposing clubs' demolition plans. Even rock stars who love playing concerts in the huge San Siro have chimed in. "It is the greatest stadium in the world, it has personality, heart and soul," Bruce Springsteen's guitarist Steven Van Zandt, aka Little Steven, told Italy's Corriere della Sera daily, calling plans to knock it down "criminal". This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Star
16-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Italy regulator probes DeepSeek over false information risks
The Deepseek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo ROME (Reuters) -Italy's antitrust watchdog AGCM said on Monday it had opened an investigation into Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek for allegedly failing to warn users that it may produce false information. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Italian regulator, which also polices consumer rights, said in a statement DeepSeek did not give users "sufficiently clear, immediate and intelligible" warnings about the risk of so-called "hallucinations" in its AI-produced content. It described these as "situations in which, in response to a given input entered by a user, the AI model generates one or more outputs containing inaccurate, misleading or invented information." In February, another Italian watchdog, the data protection authority, ordered DeepSeek to block access to its chatbot after it failed to address its concerns on privacy policy. (Reporting by Alvise Armellini and Elvira Pollina, editing by Gavin Jones)
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Italy has ended spyware contract with Paragon, parliamentary document shows
By Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) -Italy has terminated a contract with Israeli spyware maker Paragon, a parliamentary document showed on Monday, following allegations that the Italian government used its technology to hack critics' phones. Paragon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Meta's WhatsApp chat service said earlier this year Paragon spyware had targeted scores of users, including a journalist and members of the Mediterranea migrant sea rescue charity critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The government said in February that seven mobile phone users in Italy had been targeted by the spyware. Rome denied any involvement in illicit activities and said it had asked the National Cybersecurity Agency to look into the affair. A newly published report from the parliamentary committee on security, COPASIR, showed that Italian intelligence services had initially put on hold and then ended their contract with Paragon following the media outcry. The report said Italy's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies had activated contracts with Paragon in 2023 and 2024 respectively and used it on a very limited number of people, with permission from a prosecutor. The foreign intelligence agency used the spyware to search for fugitives, counter illegal immigration, alleged terrorism, organised crime, fuel smuggling and counter-espionage and internal security activities, COPASIR said. It said members of the Mediterranea charity were spied on "not as human rights activists, but in reference to their activities potentially related to irregular immigration", with permission from the government. Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, Meloni's point man on intelligence matters, authorised the use of Paragon spyware on Mediterranea activists Luca Casarini and Beppe Caccia on September 5, 2024, the report said. Mantovano was not immediately available for comment. A Sicilian judge last month ordered six members of Mediterranea, including Casarini and Caccia, to stand trial on accusations of aiding illegal immigration, the first time crew members of a rescue vessel have faced such prosecution. All denied wrongdoing. The report found no evidence that Francesco Cancellato, a reported target and editor of investigative website Fanpage, had been put under surveillance using Paragon's spyware, as he had alleged to Reuters and other media outlets.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Italian Catholic Church reports higher number of abuse cases in 2023-2024
By Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) -Italy's Catholic Church on Wednesday reported a rise in the number of suspected victims of abuse, mostly at the hands of priests, with 115 cases over the course of 2023-2024. The figure, which includes as many as 21 children under 10 and 35 "vulnerable adults," compares with 89 alleged victims reported for 2020-2021 and 54 for the year 2022. The suspected cases were linked to 67 alleged perpetrators, including 44 priests, 15 members of religious orders and eight laypersons, a report by the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) showed. The global Catholic Church has been shaken for decades by scandals involving paedophile priests and the covering up of their crimes, triggering a crisis that is among the major challenges facing newly elected Pope Leo XIV. Italy is one of the countries whose local bishops have been more reluctant to confront the issue, compared to other churches in Europe and North America. The CEI has published reports on abuse since 2022, limited to the period from 2020. Other national churches, and even a single Italian diocese, have published research stretching back decades. Italian bishops collect data on abuse from listening centres they have set up across the country, where people can flag cases involving themselves or others, obtain psychological or spiritual help, or ask for information. But out of 103 such centres covered by Wednesday's report, around two-thirds had zero people reaching out to them during 2023-2024, suggesting a reluctance to turn to them. Among the alleged cases reported, CEI said, there were 36 instances of inappropriate behaviour or language, 25 of inappropriate touching, 19 of sexual harassment, 11 involving sex, and three of grooming via social media or the internet. The Italian church also said that just over half of the alleged abuse cases that were reported to its centres were committed in 2023-2024, with the rest dating from further back in time.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope Leo says he will make 'every effort' for world peace
By Alvise Armellini VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Leo XIV, the first American to head the global Catholic Church, pledged on Wednesday to make "every effort" for peace and offered the Vatican as a mediator in global conflicts, saying war was "never inevitable". Leo, who was elected last week to succeed the late Pope Francis, has made repeated calls for peace in the early days of his papacy. His first words to crowds in St Peter's Square were "Peace be with all you". He returned to the issue while addressing members of the Eastern Catholic Churches, some of which are based in conflict-ridden places such as Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and often face persecution as religious minorities. "The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face-to-face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace," Leo said. "War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must be silenced, for they do not resolve problems but only increase them. Those who make history are the peacemakers, not those who sow seeds of suffering," he added. Pope Leo warned against the rise of simplistic narratives that divide the world into good and evil. "Our neighbours are not first our enemies, but fellow human beings," he said. On Sunday, the pontiff called for an "authentic and lasting peace" in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group Hamas, and welcomed the fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Leo spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday in his first known conversation with a foreign leader as pope. He offered to facilitate peace talks as world leaders come to his inauguration mass, the Ukrainian leader said. Zelenskiy hopes to be present for the event in St Peter's Square on May 18 and is ready to hold meetings on the sidelines, the Ukrainian leader's chief of staff Andriy Yermak told Reuters on Tuesday.
