Stadio delle Alpi

The Stadio delle Alpi is a football and athletics stadium in the Italian city of Turin. The name of the ground is a reference to Turin's location close to the Alps. It is currently used for matches by Torino F.C. and Juventus. The Stadio delle Alpi was built due to the reduction in size of the two clubs' old ground, as well as for the 1990 World Cup, in which the stadium hosted a semi-final between Germany and England. The current capacity is 67,229 and the pitch measures 105m x 68m.

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The delle Alpi has a bad reputation among spectators; crowds complain that the stands are too far from the pitch due to a running track, and that the visibility in some areas is poor. In the lower tiers of seating it is not possible to see all of the pitch. The stadiums location on the outskirts of town hasn't found favour with fans, and the stadium design leaves spectators exposed to the elements. These factors have led to some extremely poor crowd figures. Although Italy is widely regarded as a country 'crazy' about football, Juventus, one of the largest clubs in Italy, have recorded some extraordinary crowd figures:

In the Coppa Italia home match against Sampdoria Genoa in the 2001-2002 season, only 237 spectators showed up.
In the Coppa Italia home match against Reggiana in 2002-2003, only 399 spectators showed up.
In another Coppa Italia home match, only 561 spectators showed up.

In 2003 Juventus bought the stadium from Turin council for 25 million euros. In May 2006 work is due to start to reconstruct the ground into a 42,000 capacity arena. this will involve building new stands inside the existing stadium. The running track will disappear bringing fans closer to the pitch, and the shape of the stands will change from oval to rectangular. Naming rights will be sold for the ground. Juventus also plan to build conference facilities, a museum, shopping centre, and a club megastore at the site.

External links

Guardian's coverage of the scandalous stadium

FIFA World Cup stadiums | Football venues in Italy

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External links