Stadio Olimpico | |
The Olimpico | |
| |
Former names | Stadio dei Cipressi (1928–53) Stadio dei Centomila (1953–60) |
---|---|
Address | Viale dello Stadio Olimpico Rome Italy |
Coordinates | 41°56′02″N 12°27′17″E / 41.93389°N 12.45472°E |
Elevation | 21 m (69 ft) |
Public transit | ATAC tram line 2; bus lines 32, 69, 168, 188, 280, 301, 446, 628 |
Owner | Sport e Salute [1] [2] |
Operator | Italian National Olympic Committee |
Type | Stadium |
Genre(s) | sporting events |
Capacity | 70,634 [3] |
Record attendance | 78,886 (12 May 1974, Lazio – Foggia 1-0) [4] |
Field size | 105 × 68 m |
Field shape | Rectangular |
Surface | Grass |
Scoreboard | 2, atop of Northern and Southern stands |
Current use | Association football venue Athletics venue Rugby union venue Concert venue |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1928 |
Built | 1928-53 |
Opened | 17 May 1953[5] |
Renovated | 1988–90, 2007–08 |
Construction cost | 3,400,000,000 ITL (1953) 233,000,000,000 ITL (1988-90) 17,000,000 € (2007–08) |
Architect |
E. Del Debbio (1928) L. Moretti (1933–37) C. Valle (1951) A. Vitellozzi (1951–53, 1988–90) M. Clerici (1988–90) |
Builder | Speroni (1928) |
Structural engineer |
A. Frisa,
A. Pintonello (1927) C. Roccatelli (1951–53) P. Teresi, A.M. Michetti, M. Majowiecki (1988–90) |
General contractor | Co.Ge.Far. (1988–90) |
Tenants | |
1953–present 1953–present 1953–present 1954–present | |
Website | |
Stadio Olimpico Tour |
Stadio Olimpico (English: Olympic Stadium), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. It is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after Milan's Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, seating over 70,000 spectators. [3] It formerly had a capacity of over 100,000 people, and was also called Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000). It is owned by Sport e Salute, a government agency that manages sports venues, [1] [2] and its operator is the Italian National Olympic Committee.
The Olimpico is located in northwestern Rome in the Foro Italico sports complex. Construction began in 1928 with Enrico Del Debbio and the venue was expanded in 1937 by Luigi Moretti. World War II interrupted further expansions; after the Liberation of Rome in June 1944, the stadium was used by the Allies as vehicle storage and as a location for Anglo-American military competitions. After the war, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), appointed as operator of the venue, completed construction of the stadium, which was opened on 17 May 1953 with a football game between Italy and Hungary. Since opening, the stadium has been home to the city's principal professional football clubs, S.S. Lazio and A.S. Roma. It changed its name to Olimpico in 1955, when Rome was awarded responsibility for the 17th Summer Olympics, to take place in 1960. Before 1990, the venue was almost entirely unroofed, except for the Monte Mario Grandstand ( Italian: Tribuna Monte Mario). In 1990, the Olimpico was rebuilt and roofed for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
The Olimpico was the principal venue for the 1968 and 1980 European Championships as well as the 1990 FIFA World Cup, hosting the grand final for each competition, as well as a group stage and one of the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Championship. The venue hosted two finals of the European Cup, in 1977 and 1984, and two UEFA Champions' League finals, in 1996 and 2009. Since 2008, the Olimpico hosts the Coppa Italia final. The Olimpico hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track-and-field events of the 1960 Olympics, the 1974 European Athletics Championships, the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1975 Universiade. In 2024, it will host the European Athletics Championships. It has hosted the Golden Gala since 1980 and, since 2012, is the usual venue of the Italian rugby union team in the Six Nations championship.
After its 1990 reconstruction, the stadium is also a venue for concerts. The highest attendance for a musical event at the stadium was set in 1998 when 90,000 spectators attended a concert of Claudio Baglioni. [6] [7]
The 1909 plan for the city, designed by the architect and urban planner Edmondo Sanjust, had no sports venues planned in the northwestern sector of Rome. [8] The fascist regime, which saw sport as an effective propaganda tool, in 1926 imposed changes to the plan to include an area where to build a sports complex. [9] The 85-hectare area was a swamp at the bottom of a hill called Monte Mario, on the right bank of the river Tiber, [10] in the Della Vittoria quarter. [9]
The Foro Italico sports complex was commissioned by the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), a youth organisation established by the Fascist government. Work commenced in 1928 under the supervision of the architect Enrico Del Debbio, [9] [11] and the Stadio dei Cipressi was one of the venues partially completed in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of fascism in Italy. The stadium was opened to the public on 22 October 1932, though without the planned capacity of 100,000. Its main terrace was located on the slope of Monte Mario; because the ground was marshy due to the rainwater that came down the hill, the playing field was created by raising the ground by 4 meters with the 2 million cubic meters of soil excavated for the foundations. [12] The facility was more suitable for large gatherings than sporting competitions, since the area of the pitch was around 20,000 square metres (approx. 200 m length × 100 width). [12][ further explanation needed]
The official opening took place on the 14th anniversary of the Italian victory in World War I, with a gymnastics exhibition organized by the various youth Fascist associations. [10]
Since the regime intended to apply to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, [12] starting from 1933 the Stadio dei Cipressi was extended. The project was entrusted to the architects Luigi Moretti, Angelo Frisa and Achille Pintonello, [13] who designed a concrete structure [13] which hosted a main football pitch and secondary pitches for basketball and weightlifting. [14] The expanded stadium was opened on 9 May 1937, the first anniversary of the Italian Empire. The capacity of the stadium of the time was less that 60,000, but there were plans to raise it to 100,000 later on. [14] After the absorption of the ONB by the National Fascist Party's youth branch, the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL), the GIL became the owner of the stadium and the rest of the sports complex. [15]
Despite becoming a multisports venue, the stadium was never used for anything other military exhibitions and mass gatherings. In 1938, it hosted a parade to welcome German dictator Adolf Hitler during his state visit in Rome [16] and, later, to host a gymnastics exhibition organized by GIL. [17]
During the Second World War, in September 1941 the stadium hosted a military celebration of the Tripartite Pact, the political and military alliance between Italy, Germany and Japan. [18]
Planned extensions of the stadium were interrupted by the Italian campaign in WWII and the subsequent fall of Fascism in Italy. When Allied forces entered Rome in 1944, the stadium was used by the Allied troops as vehicle storage and as for military sports events. [19]
After World War II, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) was appointed the operator of the site. [20] CONI chairman Giulio Onesti announced that renewal works would finish in 1950. [20]
The renewal project was led by engineer Carlo Roccatelli and architect Cesare Valle, both members of the Superior Council of Public Works.[ clarification needed] [21]
After the fall of Fascism regime in Italy, the Badoglio government abolished existing Fascist organizations and reassigned their assets to a new agency, called Commissariato della Gioventù Italiana (Commission for the Italian Youth), with the provision that after the end of World War II, the Commission's assets would be absorbed into either the Defence Office or the Education Department, depending on their purpose. [22] However, the Commission was never abolished and it retained ownership of the Foro Italico, including the stadium. [22]
The stadium's governance was the subject of a fierce political battle. The Communist Party, through its newspaper, l'Unità, accused the Commission for the Italian Youth, led by Giovanni Valente – a member of the Christian Democracy party – of the misuse of the complex to establish a sports organization parallel to CONI, meant to favour the sports clubs close to Azione Cattolica, a lay Catholic association. [23] [24] Later on in the decade, l'Unità also accused Valente of mortgaging the complex for three billion lire (approx. 1,500,000 € or 1,600,000 $), to finance ENAL[ clarification needed], a statutory corporation meant to help workers Valente directed in establishing an alternative betting pool to the Totocalcio (organized by CONI). [25] In 1976, the Commission was abolished, [26] and all of its assets were absorbed by the Italian government. [27]
Annibale Vitellozzi replaced Roccatelli in 1951 after the latter's death. [13] In 1952, the stadium's reconstruction was completed, at a cost of 3,400,000,000 lire (approx 1,700,000 €). [28]
The new stadium was a 33,500 square-metre [28] concrete structure clad with travertine. [13] It was composed of two parallel stands of approximately 140 metres each, being the Tevere Grandstand ( Italian: Tribuna Tevere) on the eastern side and the Monte Mario Grandstand ( Italian: Tribuna Monte Mario) on the western side, [13] and the northern and southern stands, (respectively, in Italian, Curva Nord and Curva Sud), shaped as two hemicycles with a radius of 95 metres. [13] The athletics track was 507 metres long. [28] [13]The stadium was 319 metres long and 189 wide. [13] The height from the pitch to the top of the grandstands was about 18 metres, however the top of the grandstand were only 13 metres above surface level, with the pitch about 4.5 metres below surface level. [13] The sinking of the pitch was done to prevent the stadium from dominating the Foro Italico's skyline, and to match with the other buildings. [13]
Visitors could access the stadium through 10 gates, two per each hemycicle stand and three for each straight stand. The whole stadium was unroofed except for the Monte Mario Grandstand. [28] Atop the grandstand was an 80-meter long steel structure, composed off 40 2-meter wide cubicles, for use by radio and TV commentators. [28] There was also a press room, equipped with 54 phone booths, and teletype, wirephoto and telegraph facilities. [28] 572 seats were reserved for the press. [28]
The Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000), named after its expected capacity, was officially opened on 17 May 1953 by the President of Italy, Luigi Einaudi. [29] An International Cup's football match between Italy and Hungary was held, as well as the finish line of the sixth stage (from Naples to Rome) of the Giro d'Italia. Hungary won 3–0, with a goal by Nándor Hidegkuti, the first ever scorer in the stadium, and two goals from Ferenc Puskás. [30] The sixth leg of the Giro d'Italia was won by Giuseppe Minardi, with the crowd from the football game watching the finish line. [31]
The following Sunday, the stadium hosted its first ever club football match, a Serie A match between SS Lazio and Juventus FC, won by Juventus 1–0, with a goal from Pasquale Vivolo. [32] The next matchday, AS Roma debuted in the stadium, with a draw 0–0 against SPAL. [33]
In 1954, Italy hosted the fifth Rugby Union European Cup. The stadium was the venue for the final, between Italy and France. France won 39–12 in front of an estimated crowd of about 25,000. [34] [35]
In 1955, the International Olympic Committee appointed Rome the host city of the 17th Summer Olympics, to be held in 1960. [36] The decision made works to make the stadium compliant for the event more urgent. By this point, the name 'Dei Centomila' was being slowly replaced by 'Olimpico'. Works were relatively minimal, considering the low age of the stadium. Reserved press seats were raised from 572 to 1,126, [28] and four lighting towers were constructed for evening events. [28] Two electronic scoreboards were also installed atop of the northern and southern stands, starting operation on 18 October 1959 with a league derby[ clarification needed] won 3–0 by AS Roma. [37] The stadium was also provided with an autonomous power plant able to produce 375,000 watts. [28]
On 25 August 1960, the stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 17th Summer Olympics. [38] Three gold medals were won by American sprinter Wilma Rudolph, in the 100 metres, also a world record at the time, [39] 200 metres, with a world record in the semi-final heat, [40] and 4×100 relay, also with a world record and together with her team mates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones. [41]
Other events in track-and-field at the stadium included the 400 metres, won with a world record by American Otis Davis, the 1500 metres, won by Australian Herb Elliott, [42]the men's 4×100 relay, won by the Unified German Team, consisting of Bernd Cullmann, Armin Hary, Walter Mahlendorf and Martin Lauer, and the women's 800 meters, won by Soviet Lyudmila Shevtsova, equalling the world record she already held. [41]
After the Games the Olimpico kept on being used primarily as association football venue. Aside from hosting the home games of SS Lazio and AS Roma, the stadium was appointed as seat of the first ever (and, to date, only) play-off for the Scudetto in 1963–64: in that season Bologna FC and FC Inter had ended the Italian League level on points and a tie-breaker was needed to assign the title. Bologna won their 7th (and, to date, latest) Scudetto beating Inter 2–0 with an own goal of Giacinto Facchetti and a goal by Harald Nielsen. [43]
In 1960 UEFA established the European Championship which final tournament's host would be chosen amongst one of the four countries that reached the semi-finals. Italy wasn't able to reach that stage in the first two editions but in 1968 it joined the Final Four together with England, Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R., and was appointed by UEFA to host the final tournament. [44] Whereas Florence and Naples hosted the semi-finals, the Olimpico was appointed as seat of the title game, which saw the home team facing Yugoslavia. For the first (and to date only) time in the history of the tournament, was necessary a replay: on 8 June 1968 the match, indeed, ended 1–1 with a goal of Dragan Džajić equalled in the last minutes by the Italian Angelo Domenghini. [45] Two days later, Italy beat Yugoslavia 2–0 with one goal each by Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi and were crowned European champion. [46]
In 1973 Juventus FC, runner-up of 1972–73 European Cup, was invited to represent UEFA in the Intercontinental Cup against the Argentine CA Independiente, upon refusal of the European champions AFC Ajax to take part to the Cup. [47] Since both teams' schedules were busy to arrange a 2-leg match, the Italian football federation suggested to play a one-off game in the Olimpico as neutral venue, a solution on which both clubs agreed. [48]
On 28 November 1973, in front to an attendance of 22,000, Independiente won 1–0 with a goal by Ricardo Bochini. [49]
In 1974 the stadium was the seat of the 11th European Athletics Championships, which witnessed the rise of two world-class Italian athletes, the sprinter Pietro Mennea and the high-jumper Sara Simeoni, respectively winner of the 200 metres [50] and runner-up in the 100 metres [51] and the 4×100 relay, [52] and bronze in the high-jump with 1.89 metres. [52]
Another relevant event for which the Olimpico was chosen were the 8th University Games, [53] originally assigned to Belgrade that was, however, unable to hold the Games because of financial issues that hit Yugoslavia in late 1974. [54] Since there was no time for organizing a complete multisports event, the edition held in Rome featured only the track-and-field games, and again Pietro Mennea was amongst the leading athletes by winning both the 100 [55] and the 200 metres, [56] while in the long-distance running stood out Franco Fava, winner of the 5000 [56] and the 10000 metres. [57]
In 1977 Rome got to host for the first time the final of the European Cup, which was to be held between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Liverpool FC, both seeking for their first ever title. [58] The Cup went to the English side who won 3–1 thanks to one goal each by Terry McDermott, Tommy Smith and Phil Neal whereas the Danish Allan Simonsen scored the temporary equaliser for the German team. At the Olimpico Liverpool became the 2nd English and the 3rd British overall side to be crowned European champion. [59]
The 1980 edition of the European Championship was an 8-team final tournament which host was appointed by UEFA before the start of the qualifying round. The country appointed to host the first edition of the renewed competition was Italy. [60] [61] The Olimpico hosted the opening ceremony of the competition, which featured also an exhibition of Calcio storico fiorentino, a Medieval form of association football played in Florence, [62] to which followed the inaugural game between the incumbent European champions Czechoslovakia and West Germany, won 1–0 by the latter with a goal by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. [63] Again Czekoslovakia featured in the stadium during the group stage, with a win 3–1 over Greece, [64] then Italy drew 0–0 against Belgium, a result which prevented the home side from reaching the final. [65] The fourth and last game hosted in the Olimpico was the Championship final, held on 22 June 1980 where Belgium faced West Germany, which achieved the title by winning the match 2–1 with a double by Horst Hrubesch which made vain the single goal of the Belgian René Vandereycken. [66]
The 1980s were the last decade of the unroofed Olimpico: in 1981 it hosted the 3rd IAAF World Cup, an international track and field sporting event held between national and continental teams, [67] and in 1987 the 2nd World Championships in Athletics during which the American sprinter Carl Lewis bettered his 100 metres' world record (9"93) and Stefka Kostadinova established the new record for women's high jump to 2,09 metres, as to 2023 still unbeaten and amongst the longest lasting sports records. [68] [69]
Mid-way between those athletics events came the 1984 European Cup final, which the local attendance attended massively since AS Roma was one of the two contestants for the title – the other being Liverpool FC, already winner in the same venue in 1977. The game took place on 30 May 1984 in front of an attendance of 69,000 and was the first European Cup final to be decided via the penalty shootout: after the extra-time the match was still levelled 1–1 thanks to the goals of Phil Neal and Roberto Pruzzo. [70] Liverpool won the shootout 4–2 and conquered their 4th European Cup overall. [70]
Just one week before that final, FIFA had chosen Italy to host the 14th World Cup which would take place in 1990; in the bid submitted by the Italian football federation to FIFA, Rome was chosen as the seat of the tournament's final. [71] [72]
In the five years that followed the appointment of Italy as World Cup's host, the debate about the future of Rome's sports venue sparked a fierce dispute, mostly political. The three main proposals suggested for the venues were the extension of the Stadio Flaminio, [13] the building of a new stadium in the south-western sector of the city close the business district EUR, [13] or the possible renewal of the Olimpico. [13] The Stadio Flaminio's renewal was discarded almost soon because there was no space for any extension; [13] also the idea of building of a new stadium was quickly abandoned because the whole process would have taken too long. [13] Against the latter solution were also authoritative voices from the world of architecture, who deprecated the custom of building large structures always in "state of emergency" (thus too late for debating about their utility or usability in the area they were built) [73] and out of any respect of the urban planning. [73] Thus the only feasible proposal was the renewal of the Olimpico, which project the National Olympic Committee entrusted the architets Vitellozzi (already designer of the 1953 structure) and Clerici and the engineers Teresi and Michetti. [13] The plan presented in early 1987 consisted in the realization of a roofed venue able to host 85,825 spectators through a 6-metres raising of the grandstands Tevere and Monte Mario and rebuilding of the Northern and Southern stands. The light towers would be removed and replaced by a light plant integrated in the frame of the roof. At that stage, the expected extimated cost of the renewal was 35–40 billion lire (17.5 – 20 million €). [74]
CONI appointed the joint venture CO.GE.FAR. as general contractor, which was ready to start the works but in November 1987 three major environmental Italian organizations – Italia Nostra, Legambiente and WWF Italia – filed an appeal to Lazio's Administrative Regional Court, holding that the planned 40-metres pillars for the roof's sustainment would have caused a landscape and environmental damage. [75] In January 1988 the Court upheld the appeal and ordered to stop the works. [76]
Precautionally, fearing other court appeals, CONI ordered to stop any work in the Olimpico, including those which were not subject of any legal dispute. [77]
New judiciary issues came to further slow the works: the worksite in the Southern Stand was seized by the court under suspicion of lack of compliance with work safety rules. [78] The Ministry of Culture, eventually, demanded for a new project which took in count the issues raised by the environmental organizations. The architects lowered the height of the pillars and created helical stairs inside each of them to reach the highest stands, and after those changes to the project the appeal was retreated. [79] [13] That allowed the works to restart when there was little more one and half year left until the World Cup's start.
In the following months the works went on in small steps in order to prevent the structure from being completely unusable, since the SS Lazio and AS Roma were still playing there during the 1988–89 league; at the end of season, though, was no longer possible to continue the works in an operating stadium, thus the two clubs had to migrate for one year to the neighbouring Stadio Flaminio: the last ever match played by both in the old stadium was the 30th matchday's derby which ended in a goalless draw 0–0 in front of 41,633 spectators (ticket revenue was about 1.15 billion lire, approx. 590,000 €). [80] [81]
The renewed stadium, completed in April 1990, was certified for 85,000 seating attendance, and was released to FIFA at the end of the following May, two weeks late on the scheduled date, [82] barely ten days before the start of the World Cup.
Ultimately the new Olimpico, far from being the product of a renewal, was the outcome of an almost complete demolition and rebuilding which left almost nothing of the old structure apart from a portion of the façade of Tevere grand stand, the only architectural element survived after the works. [13] The Northern and Southern stands were rebuilt 9 metres closer to the short sides of the pitch; Monte Mario grandstand was extended and encompassed the brand new press centre built for the recent 1987 World Championships in Athletics – and which by, on the original plan, should have been kept. [13]
The roofing structure is composed by a 13-metres high outer steel ring which rests at an height of 29 metres above the ground on 12 steel pillar and the four external concrete stair blocks which serve also as pillar; radial bearing and stabilizing cables which hold an inner steel ring covering a projection of 45 metres. [13] [83] The roof itself is a teflon ( polytetrafluoroethylene) and glass fiber membrane which is hung from the 88 steel radial cables linking the external and internal ring. [13] [83] The expertise for the whole roofing structure, which alone cost about 160 billion lire (approx 80,000,000 €), [84] was provided by the engineering firm Majowecki of Bologna. [83]
A later analysis of each cost item and price revision which affected the whole tender, determined that the total cost for the renewal of the Olimpico summed up to approx 450 billion lire (225,000,000 €). [85] According to the experts appointed by the judges of Rome's Court of Appeal, this figure is tainted by possible irregularities in the tender, since the contract was appointed to the provider which proposed the highest price in spite of its works' lowest quality standards amongst all the participants to the tender. [86]
During the World Cup the Olimpico hosted six games equally shared between the group stage and the knockout stage. The matches of the group stage were three wins of Italy, against Austria, [87] the United States, [88] and Czekoslovakia. [89]
In the subsequent knockout stage were still the Azzurri to feature in the Olimpico, first in the round of 16 when they beat Uruguay 2–0, [90] then in the quarter-final, when it came to Ireland to be beaten [91] The following game to be hosted in the Olimpico was the final, which on 8 July 1990 featured Argentina (who beat the host Italy in the Naples' semifinal) and West Germany, which eventually won the Cup by winning the game with a goal scored by Andy Brehme on penalty kick when there were six minutes remaining. [92] Incidentally, the Olimpico was the first venue to see a player sent off during a World Cup final: more precisely the red card showed were two, both to Argentine players, Pedro Monzón and Gustavo Dezotti. [93]
At the end of its very first season in the renewed Olimpico, AS Roma reached the 1990–91 UEFA Cup final which, incidentally, was an Italian derby against Inter; at that time the UEFA Cup was the only European clubs' competition which required a 2-leg final and in the first leg held at Stadio Meazza in Milan Inter won 2–0. The Olimpico hosted the 2nd leg which AS Roma won 1–0 in front of a crowd of 70,900, but the score was not sufficient to achieve the big target because Inter won 2–1 on aggregate. [94] To hint the level of that match, five of the German footballers who had won the WC one year before on that very same pitch were playing the UEFA Cup final: the aforementioned Andy Brehme, Lothar Matthäus e Jürgen Klinsmann for Inter, Thomas Berthold and Rudi Völler for AS Roma. [94]
In September 1995 the Olimpico hosted both the opening and closing ceremony of the 1st Military World Games and also its track-and-field events. [95] Later in the year, it hosted for the first time since 1986 (and third overall) the Italian rugby union team which took on the incumbent world champion South Africa. Aside from the aforementioned 1954 European Cup final, indeed, the only other match that until then saw Italy performing at the Olimpico was in 1986 when the team drew 15-all against England XV in front of an attendance of 40,000. [96] In spite of being, at the time, the Stadio Flaminio their usual venue in Rome, Italy accepted to play at the Olimpico because at the match was associated a charity fundraising for the benefit of children's aid organizations, which suggested to adopt a larger venue which would grant a higher revenue. [97] At their first ever match after the win of World Cup, South Africa won 40–21 but, with 15 minutes still to play, Italy was leading 21–17. [98] Attendance was approximately 40,000 and the tickets' prices were between 5,000 and 30,000 lire (2.5–15 €), [97]
Few months later Rome hosted for the third time the final of the European Cup which had, meanwhile, changed name to UEFA Champions League. Like 12 years before, an Italian club was involved, Juventus FC, which faced the Dutch side AFC Ajax. [99] Exactly like in 1984 the match ended up in a draw 1–1 with goals by Fabrizio Ravanelli and Jari Litmanen, thus the tie-breaker from the penalty spot was needed. Juventus won the shootout 4–2 (like Liverpool in 1984) and their 2nd title of European clubs' champions. [100]
In the new millennium even the age-old issue of the stadium's ownership was resolved. Since 1976 the estate was owned by the Ministry of Finance, later Ministry of Economy, which in 2002 established Coni Servizi, a government agency for the management of public sports venues. [101] Subsequently, the Ministry transferred to the newborn entity the ownership of the whole Foro Italico on 3 February 2004. [1] [102] Finally, in 2019 Coni Servizi was renamed in Sport e Salute, which is the name of the current owner of the stadium. [2]
In October 2006 Rome was chosen to host the 2009 Champions League final. That appointment, the fourth overall to Rome, pushed CONI to speed the already planned works of maintenance and renewal of the stadium, 16 years after its substantial rebuilding. [103]
The shape and structure itself of the stadium were unaffected, however relevant changes were operated in the Authority Room in the Monte Mario grandstand, [104] plus the seat were replaced by more comfortable ones (48 cm wide the ones installed in the Northern and Southern stands, 50 the ones in the Tevere grandstand and 54 those in the hospitality area in the Monte Mario grandstand); VIP areas in the Monte Mario grandstand. The mentioned works would reduce the capacity of the stadium of about 5,000 seats. Further, a new 600-square metres press room was built, and, together with the doubling of the area of the current locker rooms, a third one was built to host the away team during the home matches of Lazio and Roma, assignees of one separate locker room each. [105]
Two brand new digital high-definition scoreboards were also installed atop of the Northern and the Southern stands to replace the older ones; the benches were moved slightly afar from the pitch and the partially removed the plexiglas barriers between the stands and the pitch. The certified capacity after these works was 70,634, which made the Olimpico the second most capient stadium of Italy after stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan. [3]
The 2009 Champions League final was held on 27 May 2009 and contested by FC Barcelona and Manchester Utd. The game took place in front of an attendance of 62,467 and was won 2–0 by the Spanish side which scorers were Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi. [106] [107]
Since 2008 Coppa Italia, Italy's association football Italian Cup, is assigned through a single-leg final to be played on neutral venue which has ever since always been the Olimpico, [108] aside from 2021, when the final took place in Reggio Emilia because of the COVID-19 pandemic. [109]
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship, UEFA declared that the 2020 edition would have no host country and that the tournament would be hosted in 11 cities around UEFA member associations as a one-off event. [110] Rome was appointed the hosting of three matches of the group stage including the opening game of the tournament, and one of the quarter-finals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemics, the tournament was postponed to June and July 2021. [111] On 11 June 2021 took place in the Olimpico the opening ceremony of the Championship and its inaugural game, contested by Italy and Turkey; the Azzurri won 3–0 in front of a reduced attendance of 16,000 for public health reasons. [112] Following that first win, Italy beat Switzerland, again 3–0, [113] and Wales 1–0. [114] The fourth and last match hosted at the Olimpico in the tournament was the quarter final contested by Ukraine and England: the latter won 4–0 with one goal each by Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire plus a Harry Kane's double. [115]
In August 2022, the European Athletic Association appointed Rome as host city of the 26th European Athletics Championships to be held in June 2024, 50 years after the Olimpico hosted the event for the most recent time. [116]
On 22 March 2023, the quarter-final of Women's Champions League held between AS Roma and FC Barcelona was attended by a crowd of 39,459, establishing the new attendance record for a women's association football match in Italy. [117]
As for December 2023, Italy national football team played 53 matches at the Olimpico in a 70-year span, the most recent of which is the 5–2 win in the EURO 2024 qualifying game against North Macedonia. [118]
In 1980, the then Italian Athletics Federation president Primo Nebiolo created a recurrent summer athletics event to be held at the Olimpico, which was named Golden Gala. [119] The event came in the middle of a heated political debate at international level because the several domestic olympic boards were divided about whether to follow or less the U.S. Olympic Committee in the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet involvement in the Afghanistan war [119] Aware of those political controversies, Nebiolo stated that the event he created had not to be seen as an "alternative Olympiad" [119] though it featured world-class athletes coming from both geopolitical blocks of that era.
The first edition of the Golden Gala took place on 5 August 1980, barely few days after the closing of the Soviet Olympics, and featured many of those first-class Italian athletes prevented from going to Moscow because of their status of enlisted in the armed forces and corps of the State, like i.e. Mariano Scartezzini, constable of Guardia di Finanza, who won the 3000 metres steeplechase with the Italian record. [120] Amongst the civilian athletes who featured in Moscow was instead Pietro Mennea who won the 200 metres running faster than in the gold medal final won in the U.S.S.R. few days before. [120] About 74,000 spectators attended the event, of whom 54,000 paying. The difference of figures is due to the fact that a couple of hours into the event, the organizators chose to open the gates of the two curves to the ticketless attendance and let them attend the event for free. [121]
The Golden Gala didn't take place in 1981 because of the aforementioned IAAF World Cup. It returned in 1982 and ever since it is a steady date in the international calendar. [122] It didn't feature in the Olimpico only during the years of its renewal for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, in which it migrated to Florence and Verona. Since 2013 the Golden Gala is named after Pietro Mennea, who died that year in March. [123] Aside from being a steady event of the Italian athletics, since 2010 the Golden Gala is a date of the Diamond League, the World Athletics's world tour. [124]
Since 2000 and for the following 11 seasons, Italy played its Six Nations home matches at Stadio Flaminio, a 24,000 spectators city-owned venue built to host the football tournament at the 1960 Olympics and which lays on the opposite bank of the Tiber river few hundreds metres far from the Olimpico. However, such capacity was insufficient to match Six Nations Rugby's guidelines for the stadiums. [125] At first, the Italian Rugby Federation planned to expand Stadio Flaminio to a 40,000 seat venue, [126] [127] and, in the meantime, use the Olimpico since 2012 as temporary venue until the end of Flaminio's renewal. [126] [127]
However, the renewal works never started because, in the meantime, the heirs of Pier Luigi Nervi were granted in court the intellectual property rights over the building, thus giving them veto power over every planned change they wouldn't approve. [128] The Italian Rugby Federation thus resolved to give Roma Capitale back the management rights of the venue and to ask for the permanent use of the Olimpico. [129] [130] [131]
The Olimpico debuted in the Six Nations on 11 February 2012 during an unusual icy weekend: the pitch was frozen because of the snowfall that hit Rome in the previous 24 hours. The first guest in the new venue were England that won 19–15 after having trailed for almost one hour. [132]
As of the conclusion of the 2023 Six Nations tournament, 39 test matches have been played by Italy in the venue since their first in 1954. Aside from the 30 in the 12 tournament seasons so far played, Italy played four matches at the Olimpico before their admission to the Six Nations and five more after 2000. Apart from the Six Nations sides, the most frequent guest at Olimpico are the All Blacks, whom played four test matches there. [133]
With the roofing, the Olimpico became a suitable venue for concerts. The first act overall to perform in the stadium were Miles Davis and Pat Metheny jointly in July 1991 in front an extimated crow of 20,000. [134] The first Italian artist to feature at the Olimpico was instead Zucchero Fornaciari in June 1993 during his tour l'Urlo, attended by 10,000 spectators. [135]
The record attendance for musical events belongs to Claudio Baglioni during a stage of his tour Da me a te. On 6 June 1998, the first of his two concerts in Rome sold 82,000 tickets; [6] aside from that, 8,000 spectators were admitted for free to reach a total attendance of 90,000. [136]
The record was made possible because the then CONI president Mario Pescante allowed the artist to install a 112-metre long and 72 wide stage on the pitch, since CONI had already planned the replacement of the grass turf soon after the concert, [6] thus the attendance did not seat only in the southern stand, as usual, but in every stand of the stadium. [6] [136]
The most present performer overall is the Italian singer-songwriter Vasco Rossi with 23 concerts between 1991 and his most recent in 2023. [137] Amongst the most recurrent acts is also Luciano Ligabue who performed 13 times at the Olimpico between 1996 and 2023. [138]
With regard to non-Italian acts, instead, as for 2023 the record of concerts at the Olimpico belongs to the British group Depeche Mode, who performed five times between 2006 and 2023, the most recent as stages of their Global Spirit Tour [139] and Memento Mori World Tour. [140]
The Irish band U2 follows with 4 concerts between 2005 and the most recent as part of their Joshua Tree Tour 2017. [141]
Also relevant, though not a part of any tour, the performances of David Bowie and Tina Turner at 1996 Rome's Live Rock Festival, held in the southern stand of the Olimpico, [142] and the Rome's stage of R.E.M.'s 2005 Around the Sun Tour. [143]
The table below reports the average season attendance at league matches held at the Stadio Olimpico for Lazio and Roma. [144]
The Olimpico's certified attendance record stands at 78,886 set on 12 May 1974 for the game of the 29th matchday of the 1973-74 Serie A between Lazio and Foggia. [4] The home side won the match 1-0 and, accordingly, their first Scudetto one matchday in advance. [145] For that season, SS Lazio's seasonal ticket holders were 18,392, [4] to whom were added the paying spectators for that matchday who were 60,494, [4] [145] reaching a total attendance of 78,886. [4]
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8 June 1968 3rd place play-off | England | 2–0 | Soviet Union | Rome |
18:45 UTC+2 |
B. Charlton 39' Hurst 63' |
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 68,817 Referee: István Zsolt ( Hungary) |
8 June 1968 Final | Italy | 1–1 | Yugoslavia | Rome |
21:15 UTC+2 | Domenghini 80' | Report | 39' Džajić | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 68,817 Referee: Gottfried Dienst ( Switzerland) |
10 June 1968 Final (replay) | Italy | 2–0 | Yugoslavia | Rome |
21:15 UTC+2 |
Riva 12' Anastasi 31' |
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 32,886 Referee: J.M. Ortiz de Mendíbil ( Spain) |
11 June 1980 Group 1 | Czechoslovakia | 0–1 | West Germany | Rome |
17:45 UTC+2 | Report | 57' Rummenigge | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Alberto Michelotti ( Italy) |
14 June 1980 Group 1 | Greece | 1–3 | Czechoslovakia | Rome |
20:30 UTC+2 | Anastopoulos 14' | Report | 6'
Panenka 26' Vizek 63' Nehoda |
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 7,614 Referee: Pat Partridge ( England) |
18 June 1980 Group 2 | Italy | 0–0 | Belgium | Rome |
20:30 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 42,318 Referee: António Garrido ( Portugal) |
22 June 1980 Final | Belgium | 1–2 | West Germany | Rome |
20:30 UTC+2 | Vandereycken 75' (P) | Report | 10', 88' Hrubesch | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 47,860 Referee: Nicolae Rainea ( Romania) |
9 June 1990 Group A | Italy | 1–0 | Austria | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 | Schillaci 78' | Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 73,303 Referee: José R. Wright ( Brazil) |
14 June 1990 Group A | Italy | 1–0 | United States | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 | Giannini 11' | Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 73,423 Referee: Edgardo Codesal ( Mexico) |
19 June 1990 Group A | Italy | 2–0 | Czechoslovakia | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 |
Schillaci 9' R. Baggio 78' |
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 73,303 Referee: Joël Quiniou ( France) |
24 June 1990 Round of 16 | Italy | 2–0 | Uruguay | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 |
Schillaci 65' A. Serena 83' |
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 73,303 Referee: George Courtney ( England) |
30 June 1990 Quarter-finals | Republic of Ireland | 0–1 | Italy | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 | Report | 38' Schillaci | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 73,303 Referee: Carlos Silva Valente ( Portugal) |
8 July 1990 Final | West Germany | 1–0 | Argentina | Rome |
20:00 UTC+2 | Brehme 85' ( p) | Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 73,603 Referee: Edgardo Codesal ( Mexico) |
11 June 2021 Group A | Turkey | 0–3 | Italy | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 | Report | 53' (
o.g.)
Demiral 66' Immobile 79' Insigne |
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 12,916 Referee: Danny Makkelie ( Netherlands) |
16 June 2021 Group A | Italy | 3–0 | Switzerland | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 |
Locatelli 26', 52' Immobile 89' |
Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 12,445 Referee: Sergei Karasev ( Russia) |
20 June 2021 Group A | Italy | 1–0 | Wales | Rome |
18:00 UTC+2 | Pessina 39' | Report | Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 11,541 Referee: Ovidiu Hațegan ( Romania) |
3 July 2021 Quarter-finals | Ukraine | 0–4 | England | Rome |
21:00 UTC+2 | Report | 4', 50'
Kane 46' Maguire 63' J. Henderson |
Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 11,880 Referee: Felix Brych ( Germany) |
1954 European Cup final | 24 April 1954 | Italy | 12-39 | France | Stadio dei Centomila, Rome | |
16:00 CET | Try: Gabrielli 14' Lanfranchi 77' Pen: Dari 23', 59' |
Report | Try: 9', 20' M. Prat 43' Lepatey 55', 68' Murillo 72' Larréguy 80' Boniface Con: 9', 20', 43', 68', 72', 80' J. Prat Pen: 11', 17' J. Prat |
Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Peter Cooper ( England) |
1995 South Africa tour of Europe | 12 November 1995 | Italy | 21-40 | South Africa | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | |
15:00 UTC+1 | Try: Arancio 49' Orlandi 54' Con: Domínguez 54' Pen: Domínguez 4', 20', 42' |
Report | Try: 15' Mulder 26' penalty try 71' F. Pienaar 78' H. le Roux Con: 15', 26', 71', 78' Stransky Pen: 12', 57', 60', 66' Stransky |
Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Steve Lander ( England) |
2013 Six Nations | 3 February 2013 | Italy | 23-18 | France | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | |
16:00 UTC+1 | Try: Parisse 4' Castrogiovanni 56' Con: Orquera 4', 56' Pen: Orquera 17' Drop: Orquera 14' Burton 68' |
Report | Try: 11' Picamoles 33' Fall Con: 33' Michalak Pen: 27', 49' Michalak |
Attendance: 57,547 Referee: Nigel Owens ( Wales) |
2013 Six Nations | 16 February 2013 | Italy | 22-15 | Ireland | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | |
15:30 UTC+1 | Try: Venditti 48' Con: Orquera 48' Pen: Orquera 13', 21', 69', 80' García 35' |
Report | Pen: 5', 40', 52', 57', 63' P. Jackson |
Attendance: 74,174 Referee: Wayne Barnes ( England) |
2024 Six Nations | 9 March 2024 | Italy | 31-29 | Scotland | Stadio Olimpico, Rome | |
15:15 UTC+1 | Try: Brex 14' Lynagh 43' Varney 56' Con: P.Garbisi 15', 58' Pen: P.Garbisi 1', 34', 72' Page-Relo 38' |
Report | Try: Fagerson 5' Steyn 11' Schoeman 27' Skinner 77' Con: Russell 7', 12', 77' Pen: Russell 24' |
Attendance: 69,689 Referee: Angus Gardner ( Australia) |
Ravvisata l'opportunità di individuare tra gli immobili da conferire in proprietà alla CONI Servizi S.p.A. quelli facenti parte del complesso del Foro Italico, in Roma, non aventi requisiti storico-artistici e quindi suscettibili di alienazione ai sensi del decreto del Ministro del tesoro, del bilancio e della programmazione economica […]
[…] conseguentemente, ogni richiamo alla Coni Servizi S.p.a. contenuto in disposizioni normative vigenti deve intendersi riferito alla Sport e Salute S.p.a. […]
Le istituzioni, le scuole, le accademie, i collegi appartenenti all'Opera nazionale Balilla, passano, nella attuale situazione di fatto e di diritto, alla Gioventù italiana del Littorio [All the institutions, schools, academies, colleges owned by Opera Nazionale Balilla are taken over, in the state as they are, by the Italian Youth of the Lictor]
Art. 8. Riassetto del CONI […] È costituita una società per azioni con la denominazione «CONI Servizi S.p.a.» […] (Art. 8. Reorganization of CONI […] A new public limited company is established with the denomination "Coni Servizi Spa"
La finale di Coppa Italia non si disputerà a Roma. Per la prima volta dal 2008, quando si tornò a giocarla in gara unica, l'ultimo atto della coppa nazionale traslocherà [Coppa Italia final will not be held in Rome. For the first time since 2008 - that is, since the final is played again as a single match - the final act of the tournament is going to relocate]
Events and tenants | ||
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Preceded by |
Summer Olympics Main venue 1960 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
UEFA European Championship Final venue 1968 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
European Athletics Championships Main venue 1974 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
Summer Universiade Main venue 1975 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
European Cup Final venue 1977 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | UEFA European Championship Final venue 1980 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
IAAF World Cup Main venue 1981 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | European Cup Final venue 1984 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
IAAF World Championships in Athletics Main venue 1987 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
FIFA World Cup Final venue 1990 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by –
|
Military World Games Main venue 1995 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by |
UEFA Champions League Final venue 1996 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | UEFA Champions League Final venue 2009 |
Succeeded by |