Bad news never comes alone. Beaten by Bosnia in the play-off final on Tuesday evening, Italy thus missed the train for the 2026 World Cup. A real nightmare for the Azzurri who were already largely absent from the 2018 and 2022 editions. However, transalpine football is perhaps not at the end of its troubles.
The timing is not the happiest but in fact Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA, is sounding the alarm in the columns of the Gazzetta dello Sport regarding Euro 2032. An edition whose organization was entrusted jointly to Italy and Turkey in October 2023, in the wake of the designation of the United Kingdom and Ireland to host Euro 2028.
“ I hope the infrastructure will be ready, otherwise the tournament will not take place in Italy », Coldly declared the leader of European football. This by pointing out the aging of the transalpine facilities and a renovation that has been slow to materialize since the tournament was awarded two and a half years ago.
Obsolete stadiums that absolutely need to be renovated
According to Aleksandar Ceferin, the country has “ one of the worst football infrastructures in Europe “. A brutal frontal attack that the Slovenian jurist also directed towards the Italian political class, openly accused of constant interference in sporting affairs.
For the moment, only the Juventus Stadium in Turin would meet the requirements of UEFA’s specifications. Five other candidate venues for hosting this Euro 2032 requiring heavy and expensive construction: the San Siro stadium in Milan, the Diego-Armando-Maradona stadium in Naples, the Luigi Ferraris stadium in Genoa, the Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium in Véron and the San Nicola stadium in Bari. So many presumed competition venues which must be validated by UEFA before October 2026.
