UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin warns Italy could lose Euro 2032 without stadium improvements
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UEFA vice-president and head of Italy’s football federation Gabriele Gravina (left) and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin in the stands before the 2026 World Cup play-off between Italy and Bosnia and Herzegovina at Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica on March 31, 2026. Italy lost 4-1 on penalties after the match ended 1-1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
ROME – UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin warned that Italy risks not being able to co-host Euro 2032 with Turkey due to the condition of the country’s stadiums, which he called “some of the worst in Europe”.
“Euro 2032 is scheduled and will take place, of that there is no doubt. I just hope that the infrastructure (in Italy) will be ready. If that’s not the case, the tournament will not be held in Italy,” he said in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport published on April 1. “Maybe Italy’s politicians should ask themselves why the football infrastructure is among the worst in Europe.”
Ceferin added that Italian football’s biggest problem was “the relationship between the football authorities and politics”.
In October, Italy has to name the five stadiums that will host matches at Euro 2032, with 11 cities as candidates: Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan, Genoa, Bari, Naples, Turin, Cagliari, Verona, and Palermo.
Italy can present new stadiums or ones which need to be redeveloped as long as works begin by March 2027. Only one, Juventus’ Allianz Stadium in Turin, is completely ready to host matches at the summer tournament.
Inter Milan and AC Milan bought the San Siro from Milan and hope to complete a 71,500-capacity arena on the same site as the current stadium by 2031. But the sale of the land is being probed for alleged bid rigging by the public prosecutors’ office in Italy’s economic capital.
Roma were given the green light by the local authorities in Rome to build a new stadium in the east of the Eternal City, while Fiorentina’s Artemio Franchi Stadium is being redeveloped.
In March, Naples presented a renovation project for the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, where Serie A champions Napoli play their matches. The project, which includes the elimination of the running track, has a budget of €200 million (S$296.7 million) and was presented by Mayor Gaetano Manfredi as something that needing doing “regardless of 2032”.
Ceferin’s comments are the latest blow for Italian football after the Azzurri lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties on March 31 in a World Cup play-off, which means the Italians have not qualified for the Finals for the third straight time.
It cost the head of Italy’s football federation (FIGC) his job, as Gabriele Gravina revealed he would step down as the country’s top football official following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome on April 2.
Faring much better are France, who have overtaken Spain to regain the No. 1 spot in the world standings for the first time since September 2018.
Impressive wins in friendlies in March against Brazil and Colombia moved France up two spots in the rankings released on April 1.
Spain dropped to No. 2 and Argentina slipped one spot to No. 3. England held steady at No. 4 and Portugal climbed one spot to close out the top five.
The Spainairds had occupied the top spot since September 2025.
AFP, REUTERS
