Cagliari-Inter moved north

The venue for Inter’s Week 31 visit to Cagliari has been changed to Trieste, leaving the Sardinians with a 600-mile journey for a home game.

The venue for Inter’s Week 31 visit to Cagliari has been changed to Trieste, leaving the Sardinians with a 600-mile journey for a home game.

The Sardinian outfit are in dispute with their local city council over required renovation work on the current home the Stadio Sant’Elia and President Massimo Cellino’s wishes to construct a new, privately-owned stadium for the club.

The situation has flared up more than once this season, whilst last week came the threat that the club were going to play their remaining home fixtures 600 miles north of Sardinia, in Trieste. This is because given the council’s decision to close parts of the Sant’Elia due to safety concerns, the stadium’s official capacity has fallen below regulation numbers.

Whilst Cagliari’s city mayor has more than once expressed a belief that the situation of the club moving venues could be avoided, reports this morning strongly suggested otherwise, with rumours that supporter groups had been informed on Monday to plan for the proposed journey north next Saturday.

That has now been confirmed after the Lega Calcio’s latest meeting ended this afternoon with the release of a statement on Cagliari’s website.

“Persisting with the uncertainty about completing the season at the Sant’Elia, whose capacity for a long time has been well below the minimum required by regulations, the Lega Nazionale Professionisti has granted security clearance for Cagliari to play in Trieste, at the Nereo Rocco stadium, for their next game against Inter.

“Therefore, the Week 31 League fixture will be played there on Saturday afternoon.”