Serie A Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis said on Saturday that "he will take the club away from the city unless the local mayor agrees to tell him next week how much the city wants for the council-owned San Paolo Stadium," according to Terry Daley of REUTERS. The film mogul "wants a new ground on the San Paolo site," and he told a radio station that if Mayor Luigi de Magistris "doesn't give him a price by Tuesday then he will make arrangements to build a new home 45 kilometres away in Caserta in January." He said, "I am very worried because the mayor said that he would sell me the San Paolo, but I do not think that with the biblical times with which the politicians handle things they will be able to tell me how much they want for it by Tuesday." The Corriere Della Sera newspaper also reported de Laurentiis said that he will leave Italy for the U.S. "if he doesn't get what he wants from the city council." The issue of new stadia "is a vexed one in Italy, where most clubs play at grounds owned by the local authorities" (REUTERS, 9/28).
