Stadio Comunale Sant'Elia was a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
stadium in
Cagliari
Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
, Italy. It is best known for having been the home of
Cagliari Calcio
Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia, that plays in Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. The club currently plays home matches at the 16,416-sea ...
. It hosted three matches during the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...
. The stadium had an initial capacity of 60,000 spectators, reduced to 40,919 in 1990, and then 23,834 and finally 16,000 spectators with a provisional stand. It was closed in 2017 and the new
Unipol Domus was built as a replacement.
History
Its construction began in 1970, following
Cagliari Calcio
Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia, that plays in Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. The club currently plays home matches at the 16,416-sea ...
's first and so far only
Scudetto
The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...
, thus taking the place of the old
Amsicora Stadium.
The stadium could accommodate up to about 60,000 spectators (the record attendance being approximately 70,000, was recorded against
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...
). The stadium subsequently underwent major changes and restructuring for the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...
. The maximum capacity of Sant'Elia was reduced to 40,919 spectators.
The Sant'Elia was also used for sporting events outside football such as the Terra Sarda athletics meet.
Before the
2002–03 season, also due to the reduced number of fans following the poor form of the team, long reduced to yo-yoing between
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
and
B, the stadium was restructured again. Over the athletics track, a new stand was built, behind the goals so as to reduce the distance between the terrace and the playing field, with the central terraces remaining intact. The new format of the stadium, which almost halved its maximum capacity to 23,486 seats, came under harsh criticism.
Cagliari Calcio
Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia, that plays in Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. The club currently plays home matches at the 16,416-sea ...
president
Massimo Cellino had plans to build a new stadium for the football team to play in, however the council and mayor Emilio Floris refused to give consent for the project to go ahead, despite the fact that Cellino was willing to finance the new stadium himself.
Nonetheless, plans were drawn up and a draft was revealed in September 2007, with Cellino and Cagliari Calcio meeting all expenses. The project provided a stadium with 25,000 seats, with construction beginning in August 2009 and expected completion a year later. However, late in 2009, Cagliari Calcio proposed a revamped plan for the Karalis Arena in order to be added to the list of the
Euro 2016 candidature. The new stadium would accommodate about 30,000 spectators and have new Skybox, restaurants and café.
Due to disagreements with the new local administration headed by mayor
Massimo Zedda
Massimo Zedda (born 6 January 1976) is an Italian politician, Mayor of Cagliari from 2011 to 2019 and again since 2024.
Biography
Son of a Sardinian leader of the Italian Communist Party, Zedda joined Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom in ...
and growing safety concerns regarding the venue, Cagliari left Stadio Sant'Elia in the final weeks of the
2011–12 Serie A
The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...
season, playing the remaining few home games at
Stadio Nereo Rocco,
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
. For the
2012–13 Serie A
The 2012–13 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of top-tier Italian football, the 81st in a round-robin tournament, and the 3rd since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...
season, Cagliari played its home games outside its home city, at
Stadio Comunale Is Arenas in
Quartu Sant'Elena, thus ultimately putting an end to its long-standing association with Stadio Sant'Elia.
However, Cagliari cancelled their contract at Stadio Is Arenas in April 2013 after having safety issues with local authorities all season, which forced them to play behind closed doors in several matches. It was announced on 19 October 2013 that Cagliari would return to the Stadio Sant’Elia for the remainder of
2013-14 Serie A season.
On 1 August 2014, after a deal with the local council, new Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini announced that Stadio Sant’Elia would be expanded to hold at least 11,650 fans for the
2014-15 Serie A season. The goal was to reach a capacity of 16,000 (or even 18,000) by 21 December 2014 (home match against Juventus).
On 24 October 2014, the Provincial Supervision Committee gave the go-ahead for opening Curva Sud which has a capacity of 4,000 seats. Thus, it was expected that the stadium would have a total capacity of 16,000 when Cagliari Calcio took on AC Milan on 29 October.
On 18 December 2015, Cagliari Calcio presented a project of a new stadium which would have a capacity of 21,000, shops, and a restaurant. The project was approved by the local council on 21 February 2017 and by the region on 1 March 2017. Work started in April 2017 and the new stadium will be completed by 2021. From 2017, Cagliari played at the provisional
Sardegna Arena until construction was completed and name changed to Unipol Domus.
In July 2022, Cagliari Calcio presented the final project for the new stadium to the Municipality of Cagliari. The completion date is aimed for the start of the 2025–26 season. On 21 December 2022, the cost of the project was estimated at €157.4m. The Regional Council of Sardinia will provide €50m in funding.
1990 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues of the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...
. Although it was denied by local and
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
organisers, it was widely rumoured that the stadium had been chosen for all of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
's group matches as a way to control their reputation at the time for
hooliganism
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance.
Etymology ...
.
FIFA World Cup 1990 – Group F – Historical Football Kits
/ref> The following matches were held at the ground:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadio Sant'elia
Sant'Elia
Sant'Elia
Cagliari Calcio
Sports venues in Sardinia
Sports venues completed in 1970