BOLZANO. The Football League took pen and paper and wrote to the Municipality: by 31 January 2025 make up your mind with the story of the “VIP lounge”. Build it and assign it. Translation: it is that place, located above the central stand of the stadium, where professional clubs provide hospitality. External and internal. Reception areas, catering.
Drusus lacked it. Both of the material space and of its possible manager.
The answer has arrived: next week the Municipality’s Finance commission will receive a draft budget amendment from the council in which the management of the lounge with catering-related activities is assigned to the FC Südtirol team for 15 years.
The compensation paid by the South Tyrolean club is almost 2.5 million euros for the completion work on the structure, now unfinished and located at the top of the Zanvettor grandstand.
From the first to the second call
City councilor Claudio Della Ratta, from the opposition, says: «It’s about time, we’ve been going around it for three years. Evidently the Municipality failed in drafting the first tender, which was abandoned. And time was wasted. Now, faced with an expense of around 400 thousand euros a year, of which 240 thousand for matches and 160 thousand for catering management, FC Südtirol has been awarded what in the initial tender was quantified at 2.3 million euros per year. year, a figure that did not include the costs for completing the works”.
Municipal councilor Stefano Fattor responds, from the majority: «In the first tender we tried to look for a manager for the entire stadium. Given its conclusion, it was decided to limit the tender – explains the Heritage Councilor – to the VIP lounge only. Which was the central hub also regarding the League’s requests.”
The first tender offered the management of the Druso for 20 years with a cost of 46 million euros. The risk, i.e. the uncertainty of the scenario, was too evident, even for an interested entrepreneur, because the profit was closely linked to the proceeds and therefore to the successes of the team, as well as its permanence at least in Serie B: a prospect that cannot be planned on an economic level .
Sports councilor Juri Andriollo adds: «We are in line with the requests of the Football League. And also with the general compatibility of our expenses. In the second tender it seems only Südtirol was present and therefore it will be assigned the management of the space in the stands and the management of the works necessary to complete it”.
Today Eurac is used
In recent months the situation was this: since it was the host company’s responsibility to welcome guests and managers, some Eurac rooms were used. Which is located right near the Druso.
A situation that could not last, even in terms of prestige for a second-class club.
On the general sports facilities front, however, given the failure of the first tender which attempted to assign the management of the entire stadium, the Municipality’s own management will continue. With one clause: for every home match, FC Südtirol corresponds and will correspond to the municipality 12 thousand euros to cover logistical and organizational expenses.
«The decision to assign the management of the VIP stand with all its tasks directly to FC Südtirol – comments Della Ratta, from the Civica per Bolzano – is the most realistic and suitable solution for the territorial circumstances. But years would not have been wasted, as well as money destined for a consultancy firm for the first, unsuccessful, tender, if the right path had been taken immediately.” Now it seems so. P.CA.