Stadio Sant'Elia
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| Location | Cagliari, Italy |
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| Owner | Municipality of Cagliari |
| Capacity | 16,000 |
| Surface | Grass 105x66.5m |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1965 |
| Opened | 1970 |
| Renovated | 1989, 2003, 2013 |
| Tenants | |
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Cagliari Calcio (1970 - 2012) Cagliari Calcio (2013 - present) 1990 FIFA World Cup (3 matches) |
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Stadio Comunale Sant'Elia is a football stadium in Cagliari, Italy. It is best known for having been the home of Cagliari Calcio. It hosted three matches during the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The stadium currently has capacity of 16,000 spectators.
Its construction began in 1970, following Cagliari Calcio's first and so far only Scudetto, 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 Etienne). The stadium subsequently underwent major changes and restructuring for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The maximum capacity of Sant'Elia was reduced to 39,905 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 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 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.
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