Cagliari to play three more matches in Trieste
Reuters - Friday 20 April 2012, 16:20
Cagliari will play their final three
Serie A home games in Trieste, over 800 kilometres away on the
Italian mainland, because of an ongoing row with the Sardinian
capital's council over their dilapidated Sant'Elia stadium.
Serie A said in a statement on Friday it had given the green
light to the measure for games against Catania, Chievo and
leaders Juventus after Cagliari already hosted Inter Milan in
the north-eastern city this month.
Cagliari are planning to build a new stadium and move out of
the Sant' Elia, which was used in the 1990 World Cup but is
badly in need of renovation and only certain sectors of the
ground are deemed safe - prompting the move away.
Cagliari said in a statement they were ready to meet the
council over stadium improvements while the club also lamented a
class action from fans angry at the decision to not play on the
island, which lacks any other large football stadium.
Critics have said the club are acting like a franchise by
playing in Trieste, a city near the Slovenian border which has
no team in the top two divisions and whose nearest Serie A side
is Udinese 60 km away.