Stadio Olimpico (English: Olympic Stadium), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italianmulti-purpose sports venue located in Rome. It is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after Milan'sStadio Giuseppe Meazza, seating over 70,000 spectators.[3] It formerly had a capacity of over 100,000 people, and was also called Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000). It is owned by Sport e Salute, a government agency that manages sports venues,[1][2] and its operator is the Italian National Olympic Committee.
The Olimpico is located in northwestern Rome in the Foro Italico sports complex. Construction began in 1928 with Enrico Del Debbio and the venue was expanded in 1937 by Luigi Moretti. World War II interrupted further expansions; after the Liberation of Rome in June 1944, the stadium was used by the Allies as vehicle storage and as a location for Anglo-American military competitions. After the war, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), appointed as operator of the venue, completed construction of the stadium, which was opened on 17 May 1953 with a football game between Italy and Hungary. Since opening, the stadium has been home to the city's principal professional football clubs, S.S. Lazio and A.S. Roma. It changed its name to Olimpico in 1955, when Rome was awarded responsibility for the 17th Summer Olympics, to take place in 1960. Before 1990, the venue was almost entirely unroofed, except for the Monte Mario Grandstand (Italian: Tribuna Monte Mario). In 1990, the Olimpico was rebuilt and roofed for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
After its 1990 reconstruction, the stadium is also a venue for concerts. The highest attendance for a musical event at the stadium was set in 1998 when 90,000 spectators attended a concert of Claudio Baglioni.[6][7]
History
Stadio dei Cipressi
The 1909 plan for the city, designed by the architect and urban planner Edmondo Sanjust, had no sports venues planned in the northwestern sector of Rome.[8] The fascist regime, which saw sport as an effective propaganda tool, in 1926 imposed changes to the plan to include an area where to build a sports complex.[9] The 85-hectare area was a swamp at the bottom of a hill called Monte Mario, on the right bank of the river Tiber,[10] in the Della Vittoria quarter.[9]
The Foro Italico sports complex was commissioned by the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), a youth organisation established by the Fascist government. Work commenced in 1928 under the supervision of the architect Enrico Del Debbio,[9][11] and the Stadio dei Cipressi was one of the venues partially completed in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of fascism in Italy. The stadium was opened to the public on 22 October 1932, though without the planned capacity of 100,000. Its main terrace was located on the slope of Monte Mario; because the ground was marshy due to the rainwater that came down the hill, the playing field was created by raising the ground by 4 meters with the 2 million cubic meters of soil excavated for the foundations.[12] The facility was more suitable for large gatherings than sporting competitions, since the area of the pitch was around 20,000 square metres (approx. 200 m length × 100 width).[12][further explanation needed]
The stadium in 1941 during a celebration of the Tripartite Pact
The official opening took place on the 14th anniversary of the Italian victory in World War I, with a gymnastics exhibition organized by the various youth Fascist associations.[10]
Since the regime intended to apply to host the 1940 Summer Olympics,[12] starting from 1933 the Stadio dei Cipressi was extended. The project was entrusted to the architects Luigi Moretti, Angelo Frisa and Achille Pintonello,[13] who designed a concrete structure[13] which hosted a main football pitch and secondary pitches for basketball and weightlifting.[14] The expanded stadium was opened on 9 May 1937, the first anniversary of the Italian Empire. The capacity of the stadium of the time was less that 60,000, but there were plans to raise it to 100,000 later on.[14] After the absorption of the ONB by the National Fascist Party's youth branch, the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL), the GIL became the owner of the stadium and the rest of the sports complex.[15]
Despite becoming a multisports venue, the stadium was never used for anything other military exhibitions and mass gatherings. In 1938, it hosted a parade to welcome German dictator Adolf Hitler during his state visit in Rome[16] and, later, to host a gymnastics exhibition organized by GIL.[17]
During the Second World War, in September 1941 the stadium hosted a military celebration of the Tripartite Pact, the political and military alliance between Italy, Germany and Japan.[18]
Planned extensions of the stadium were interrupted by the Italian campaign in WWII and the subsequent fall of Fascism in Italy. When Allied forces entered Rome in 1944, the stadium was used by the Allied troops as vehicle storage and as for military sports events.[19]
Stadio dei Centomila
After World War II, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) was appointed the operator of the site.[20] CONI chairman Giulio Onesti announced that renewal works would finish in 1950.[20]
The renewal project was led by engineer Carlo Roccatelli and architect Cesare Valle, both members of the Superior Council of Public Works.[clarification needed][21]
After the fall of Fascism regime in Italy, the Badoglio government abolished existing Fascist organizations and reassigned their assets to a new agency, called Commissariato della Gioventù Italiana (Commission for the Italian Youth), with the provision that after the end of World War II, the Commission's assets would be absorbed into either the Defence Office or the Education Department, depending on their purpose.[22] However, the Commission was never abolished and it retained ownership of the Foro Italico, including the stadium.[22]
The stadium's governance was the subject of a fierce political battle. The Communist Party, through its newspaper, l'Unità, accused the Commission for the Italian Youth, led by Giovanni Valente – a member of the Christian Democracy party – of the misuse of the complex to establish a sports organization parallel to CONI, meant to favour the sports clubs close to Azione Cattolica, a lay Catholic association.[23][24] Later on in the decade, l'Unità also accused Valente of mortgaging the complex for three billion lire (approx. 1,500,000 € or 1,600,000 $), to finance ENAL[clarification needed], a statutory corporation meant to help workers Valente directed in establishing an alternative betting pool to the Totocalcio (organized by CONI).[25] In 1976, the Commission was abolished,[26] and all of its assets were absorbed by the Italian government.[27]
Annibale Vitellozzi replaced Roccatelli in 1951 after the latter's death.[13] In 1952, the stadium's reconstruction was completed, at a cost of 3,400,000,000 lire (approx 1,700,000 €).[28]
Final of the 1954 rugby union European Cup Italy v France
The new stadium was a 33,500 square-metre[28] concrete structure clad with travertine.[13] It was composed of two parallel stands of approximately 140 metres each, being the Tevere Grandstand (Italian: Tribuna Tevere) on the eastern side and the Monte Mario Grandstand (Italian: Tribuna Monte Mario) on the western side,[13] and the northern and southern stands, (respectively, in Italian, Curva Nord and Curva Sud), shaped as two hemicycles with a radius of 95 metres.[13] The athletics track was 507 metres long.[28][13]The stadium was 319 metres long and 189 wide.[13] The height from the pitch to the top of the grandstands was about 18 metres, however the top of the grandstand were only 13 metres above surface level, with the pitch about 4.5 metres below surface level.[13] The sinking of the pitch was done to prevent the stadium from dominating the Foro Italico's skyline, and to match with the other buildings.[13]
Visitors could access the stadium through 10 gates, two per each hemycicle stand and three for each straight stand. The whole stadium was unroofed except for the Monte Mario Grandstand.[28] Atop the grandstand was an 80-meter long steel structure, composed off 40 2-meter wide cubicles, for use by radio and TV commentators.[28] There was also a press room, equipped with 54 phone booths, and teletype, wirephoto and telegraph facilities.[28] 572 seats were reserved for the press.[28]
The Olimpico on a 1950s colour postcard
The Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000), named after its expected capacity, was officially opened on 17 May 1953 by the President of Italy, Luigi Einaudi.[29] An International Cup's football match between Italy and Hungary was held, as well as the finish line of the sixth stage (from Naples to Rome) of the Giro d'Italia. Hungary won 3–0, with a goal by Nándor Hidegkuti, the first ever scorer in the stadium, and two goals from Ferenc Puskás.[30] The sixth leg of the Giro d'Italia was won by Giuseppe Minardi, with the crowd from the football game watching the finish line.[31]
The following Sunday, the stadium hosted its first ever club football match, a Serie A match between SS Lazio and Juventus FC, won by Juventus 1–0, with a goal from Pasquale Vivolo.[32] The next matchday, AS Roma debuted in the stadium, with a draw 0–0 against SPAL.[33]
In 1954, Italy hosted the fifth Rugby Union European Cup. The stadium was the venue for the final, between Italy and France. France won 39–12 in front of an estimated crowd of about 25,000.[34][35]
1960 Olympics
Opening Ceremony of the 1960 Olympic Games
In 1955, the International Olympic Committee appointed Rome the host city of the 17th Summer Olympics, to be held in 1960.[36] The decision made works to make the stadium compliant for the event more urgent. By this point, the name 'Dei Centomila' was being slowly replaced by 'Olimpico'. Works were relatively minimal, considering the low age of the stadium. Reserved press seats were raised from 572 to 1,126,[28] and four lighting towers were constructed for evening events.[28] Two electronic scoreboards were also installed atop of the northern and southern stands, starting operation on 18 October 1959 with a league derby[clarification needed] won 3–0 by AS Roma.[37] The stadium was also provided with an autonomous power plant able to produce 375,000 watts.[28]
After the games, the Olimpico was used primarily as an association-football venue. In addition to hosting the home games of SS Lazio and AS Roma, the stadium had the first (and, to date, only) play-off for the scudetto in 1963–64; Bologna FC and FC Inter had ended the Italian League season level on points, and a tie-breaker was needed to determine the title. Bologna won their seventh (and most recent) Scudetto, defeating Inter 2–0 with an own goal by Giacinto Facchetti and a goal by Harald Nielsen.[43]
In 1960, UEFA established the European Championship. Its final's host would be chosen from the four countries who reached the semi-finals.
Italy did not reach that stage in the first two editions, but in 1968 it reached the "Final Four" with England, Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R. and was chosen by UEFA to host the final tournament.[44]Florence and Naples hosted the semi-finals and the Olimpico hosted the title game, which saw the home team facing Yugoslavia. For the first (and only) time in the history of the tournament, a replay was necessary; on 8 June 1968 the match ended 1–1, with a goal by Dragan Džajić equalled in the final minutes by the Italian Angelo Domenghini.[45]
Italy defeated Yugoslavia 2–0 two days later, with goals by Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi, and became the European champion.[46]
Juventus captain Sandro Salvadore(left) in action against Independiente in 1973
Juventus FC, runner-up in the 1972–73 European Cup, was invited to represent UEFA in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup against the Argentine CA Independiente after European champions AFC Ajax refused to participate in the tournament.[47] Since both teams' schedules were too full for a two-leg match, the Italian football federation suggested a one-off game at the neutral Olimpico; both clubs agreed.[48]
Pietro Mennea wins the 200-metre dash at the 1974 European Championships.
On 28 November 1973, before 22,000 spectators, Independiente won 1–0 with a goal by Ricardo Bochini.[49] In 1974, the stadium hosted the 11th European Athletics Championships. The event showcased two world-class Italian athletes: sprinter Pietro Mennea (winner of the 200 metres[50] and runner-up in the 100 metres[51] and the 4×100 relay)[52] and high-jumper Sara Simeoni, bronze medalist in the high jump at 1.89 metres.[52]
The Olimpico was chosen in 1975 for the 8th University Games,[53] originally awarded to Belgrade (which was unable to host the games because of financial issues in Yugoslavia in late 1974).[54] Since there was no time to organize a full multi-sport games, the Rome edition consisted only of track-and-field events. Pietro Mennea was again amongst the leading athletes, winning the 100[55] and 200 metres,[56] and Franco Fava won the 5000-[56] and 10,000-metre runs.[57]
The 1959 scoreboard atop the Southern Stand in April 1974
Giancarlo De Sisti celebrates after scoring the winning goal in the 1974-75 Roma v. Lazio derby
The 1980 edition of the European Championship was an eight-team tournament whose host country was chosen by UEFA before the qualifying round. Italy hosted the first edition of the renewed competition.[60][61]
The Olimpico held the opening ceremony, which featured an exhibition of calcio storico fiorentino (a medieval form of association football played in Florence)[62] followed by the first game between European champions Czechoslovakia and West Germany; Germany won 1–0, with a goal by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.[63] Czechoslovakia played well in the group stage, with a 3–1 victory against Greece.[64] Italy drew 0–0 against Belgium, preventing the home side from reaching the final.[65] The fourth game at the Olimpico was the championship final on 22 June 1980, when Belgium faced West Germany. Germany won the match 2–1, with a double by Horst Hrubesch; the Belgian goal was scored by René Vandereycken.[66]
The 1980s were the last decade of the roofless Olimpico. It hosted the third IAAF World Cup in 1981 (an international track-and-field event with national and continental teams)[67] and the 1987 second World Championships in Athletics, when American sprinter Carl Lewis bettered his 100-metre 9.93-second world record and Stefka Kostadinova set a record in the women's high jump of 2.09 metres (6 ft 10 in); the latter remains amongst the longest-lasting sports records.[68][69]
Mid-way between the athletics events was the 1984 European Cup final, well-attended since AS Roma was one of the contestants for the title; the other was Liverpool FC, winner at the same venue in 1977. The game, played on 30 May 1984 before 69,000 spectators, was the first European Cup final decided by a penalty shootout. After extra time, the match was still level at 1–1 with goals by Phil Neal and Roberto Pruzzo.[70] Liverpool won the shootout 4–2 for their fourth European Cup.[70]
One week before the final, FIFA chose Italy to host the 14th World Cup in 1990. In the bid submitted by the Italian football federation to FIFA, Rome was proposed for the tournament's final.[71][72]
1990 World Cup renovation
In the five years after the choice of Italy as World Cup host, the future of Rome's stadiums sparked a mostly-political dispute. The three main proposals were the expansion of Stadio Flaminio,[13] a new stadium in south-western Rome near EUR,[13] or renovation of the Olimpico.[13]
The Stadio Flaminio expansion was quickly dropped due to lack of space,[13] and a new stadium would have taken too long;[13] architects opposed hasty construction and poor urban planning.[73] The only feasible proposal was to renovate the Olimpico, and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) hired architects Vitellozzi (designer of the 1953 stadium) and Clerici and engineers Teresi and Michetti.[13] The plan, presented in early 1987, consisted of a covered stadium with a capacity of 85,825 via a 6-metre (20 ft) rise of the Tevere and Monte Mario grandstands and rebuilding the Northern and Southern stands. The light towers would be replaced by a light plant integrated into the roof frame. The estimated cost of the renovation was [[Italian lira|₤))35–40 billion (€17.5–20 million).[74]
CONI appointed the joint venture CO.GE.FAR. as the general contractor ready to begin work. In November 1987, three Italian environmental organizations (Italia Nostra, Legambiente and WWF Italia) filed an appeal in Lazio's Administrative Regional Court that the planned 40-metre (130 ft) roof pillars would cause landscape and environmental damage.[75]
In January 1988 the Court upheld the appeal and ordered to stop the works.[76]
Aerial view of the roofed Olimpico
Fearing other court appeals, CONI stopped work on the Olimpico.[77] New judicial issues slowed the work; the Southern Stand worksite was seized by the court, which suspected non-compliance with work-safety rules.[78]
The Ministry of Culture demanded a new project which took into account issues raised by the environmental organizations.
The architects lowered the pillars and created helical stairs inside each to reach the highest stands, and the appeal was rescinded.[79][13] Work resumed with a little more than 18 months before the World Cup.
Work continued slowly over the following months, since SS Lazio and AS Roma were still playing there during the 1988–89 season; at the end of the season, both clubs moved for a year to neighbouring Stadio Flaminio. Their final match at the old stadium was the 30th match day derby, which ended goalless before 41,633 spectators; ticket revenue was about ₤1.15 billion (about €590,000).[80][81]
The renovated stadium, completed in April 1990, seated 85,000 and was released to FIFA at the end of May (two weeks late[82] and ten days before the start of the World Cup). Little was left of the old Olimpico except for a portion of the façade of the Tevere grandstand.[13] The Northern and Southern stands were rebuilt 9 metres (30 ft) closer to the short sides of the pitch; the Monte Mario grandstand was extended, replacing the press centre built for the 1987 World Championships in Athletics.[13]
The roof consists of a 13-metre-high (43 ft) outer steel ring which is 29 metres (95 ft) above the ground on 12 steel pillars and four external concrete stair blocks which are also pillars; radial bearing and stabilizing cables hold an inner steel ring.[13][83] The roof itself is a Teflon-(polytetrafluoroethylene) and-fiberglass membrane which is hung from the 88 steel radial cables linking the external and internal rings.[13][83]
The roof, which cost approximately ₤160 billion (about €80,000,000),[84] was designed by the Majowecki engineering firm in Bologna.[83]
A later analysis determined that the total cost for the Olimpico renovation was about ₤450 billion (€225,000,000).[85] According to experts appointed by the judges at Rome's Court of Appeals, this figure is tainted by possible irregularities in the tender, since the contract was appointed to the provider with the highest bid.[86]
Italia '90 and the post-World Cup
During the World Cup the Olimpico hosted six games equally shared between the group stage and the knockout stage.
The matches of the group stage were three wins of Italy, against Austria,[87] the United States,[88] and Czekoslovakia.[89]
In the subsequent knockout stage were still the Azzurri to feature in the Olimpico, first in the round of 16 when they beat Uruguay 2–0,[90] then in the quarter-final, when it came to Ireland to be beaten[91]
The following game to be hosted in the Olimpico was the final, which on 8 July 1990 featured Argentina (who beat the host Italy in the Naples' semifinal) and West Germany, which eventually won the Cup by winning the game with a goal scored by Andy Brehme on penalty kick when there were six minutes remaining.[92]
Incidentally, the Olimpico was the first venue to see a player sent off during a World Cup final: more precisely the red card showed were two, both to Argentine players, Pedro Monzón and Gustavo Dezotti.[93]
At the end of its very first season in the renewed Olimpico, AS Roma reached the 1990–91 UEFA Cup final which, incidentally, was an Italian derby against Inter; at that time the UEFA Cup was the only European clubs' competition which required a 2-leg final and in the first leg held at Stadio Meazza in Milan Inter won 2–0.
The Olimpico hosted the 2nd leg which AS Roma won 1–0 in front of a crowd of 70,900, but the score was not sufficient to achieve the big target because Inter won 2–1 on aggregate.[94]
To hint the level of that match, five of the German footballers who had won the WC one year before on that very same pitch were playing the UEFA Cup final: the aforementioned Andy Brehme, Lothar Matthäus e Jürgen Klinsmann for Inter, Thomas Berthold and Rudi Völler for AS Roma.[94]
In September 1995 the Olimpico hosted both the opening and closing ceremony of the 1st Military World Games and also its track-and-field events.[95]
Later in the year, it hosted for the first time since 1986 (and third overall) the Italian rugby union team which took on the incumbent world champion South Africa.
Aside from the aforementioned 1954 European Cup final, indeed, the only other match that until then saw Italy performing at the Olimpico was in 1986 when the team drew 15-all against England XV in front of an attendance of 40,000.[96]
In spite of being, at the time, the Stadio Flaminio their usual venue in Rome, Italy accepted to play at the Olimpico because at the match was associated a charity fundraising for the benefit of children's aid organizations, which suggested to adopt a larger venue which would grant a higher revenue.[97]
At their first ever match after the win of World Cup, South Africa won 40–21 but, with 15 minutes still to play, Italy was leading 21–17.[98]
Attendance was approximately 40,000 and the tickets' prices were between 5,000 and 30,000 lire (2.5–15 €),[97]
Few months later Rome hosted for the third time the final of the European Cup which had, meanwhile, changed name to UEFA Champions League.
Like 12 years before, an Italian club was involved, Juventus FC, which faced the Dutch side AFC Ajax.[99]
Exactly like in 1984 the match ended up in a draw 1–1 with goals by Fabrizio Ravanelli and Jari Litmanen, thus the tie-breaker from the penalty spot was needed.
Juventus won the shootout 4–2 (like Liverpool in 1984) and their 2nd title of European clubs' champions.[100]
In the new millennium even the age-old issue of the stadium's ownership was resolved.
Since 1976 the estate was owned by the Ministry of Finance, later Ministry of Economy, which in 2002 established Coni Servizi, a government agency for the management of public sports venues.[101]
Subsequently, the Ministry transferred to the newborn entity the ownership of the whole Foro Italico on 3 February 2004.[1][102]
Finally, in 2019 Coni Servizi was renamed in Sport e Salute, which is the name of the current owner of the stadium.[2]
In October 2006 Rome was chosen to host the 2009 Champions League final.
That appointment, the fourth overall to Rome, pushed CONI to speed the already planned works of maintenance and renewal of the stadium, 16 years after its substantial rebuilding.[103]
The shape and structure itself of the stadium were unaffected, however relevant changes were operated in the Authority Room in the Monte Mario grandstand,[104] plus the seat were replaced by more comfortable ones (48 cm wide the ones installed in the Northern and Southern stands, 50 the ones in the Tevere grandstand and 54 those in the hospitality area in the Monte Mario grandstand); VIP areas in the Monte Mario grandstand.
The mentioned works would reduce the capacity of the stadium of about 5,000 seats.
Further, a new 600-square metres press room was built, and, together with the doubling of the area of the current locker rooms, a third one was built to host the away team during the home matches of Lazio and Roma, assignees of one separate locker room each.[105]
Two brand new digital high-definition scoreboards were also installed atop of the Northern and the Southern stands to replace the older ones; the benches were moved slightly afar from the pitch and the partially removed the plexiglas barriers between the stands and the pitch.
The certified capacity after these works was 70,634, which made the Olimpico the second most capient stadium of Italy after stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan.[3]
Since 2008 Coppa Italia, Italy's association football Italian Cup, is assigned through a single-leg final to be played on neutral venue which has ever since always been the Olimpico,[108] aside from 2021, when the final took place in Reggio Emilia because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[109]
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Championship, UEFA declared that the 2020 edition would have no host country and that the tournament would be hosted in 11 cities around UEFA member associations as a one-off event.[110]
Rome was appointed the hosting of three matches of the group stage including the opening game of the tournament, and one of the quarter-finals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemics, the tournament was postponed to June and July 2021.[111]
On 11 June 2021 took place in the Olimpico the opening ceremony of the Championship and its inaugural game, contested by Italy and Turkey; the Azzurri won 3–0 in front of a reduced attendance of 16,000 for public health reasons.[112]
Following that first win, Italy beat Switzerland, again 3–0,[113] and Wales 1–0.[114]
The fourth and last match hosted at the Olimpico in the tournament was the quarter final contested by Ukraine and England: the latter won 4–0 with one goal each by Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire plus a Harry Kane's double.[115]
In 1980, the then Italian Athletics Federation president Primo Nebiolo created a recurrent summer athletics event to be held at the Olimpico, which was named Golden Gala.[119]
The event came in the middle of a heated political debate at international level because the several domestic olympic boards were divided about whether to follow or less the U.S. Olympic Committee in the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the Soviet involvement in the Afghanistan war[119]
Aware of those political controversies, Nebiolo stated that the event he created had not to be seen as an "alternative Olympiad"[119] though it featured world-class athletes coming from both geopolitical blocks of that era.
The first edition of the Golden Gala took place on 5 August 1980, barely few days after the closing of the Soviet Olympics, and featured many of those first-class Italian athletes prevented from going to Moscow because of their status of enlisted in the armed forces and corps of the State, like i.e. Mariano Scartezzini, constable of Guardia di Finanza, who won the 3000 metres steeplechase with the Italian record.[120]
Amongst the civilian athletes who featured in Moscow was instead Pietro Mennea who won the 200 metres running faster than in the gold medal final won in the U.S.S.R. few days before.[120]
About 74,000 spectators attended the event, of whom 54,000 paying.
The difference of figures is due to the fact that a couple of hours into the event, the organizators chose to open the gates of the two curves to the ticketless attendance and let them attend the event for free.[121]
The Golden Gala didn't take place in 1981 because of the aforementioned IAAF World Cup.
It returned in 1982 and ever since it is a steady date in the international calendar.[122]
It didn't feature in the Olimpico only during the years of its renewal for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, in which it migrated to Florence and Verona.
Since 2013 the Golden Gala is named after Pietro Mennea, who died that year in March.[123]
Aside from being a steady event of the Italian athletics, since 2010 the Golden Gala is a date of the Diamond League, the World Athletics's world tour.[124]
Olimpico's frozen pitch before the 2012 Six Nations match against England
Since 2000 and for the following 11 seasons, Italy played its Six Nations home matches at Stadio Flaminio, a 24,000 spectators city-owned venue built to host the football tournament at the 1960 Olympics and which lays on the opposite bank of the Tiber river few hundreds metres far from the Olimpico.
However, such capacity was insufficient to match Six Nations Rugby's guidelines for the stadiums.[125]
At first, the Italian Rugby Federation planned to expand Stadio Flaminio to a 40,000 seat venue,[126][127] and, in the meantime, use the Olimpico since 2012 as temporary venue until the end of Flaminio's renewal.[126][127]
However, the renewal works never started because, in the meantime, the heirs of Pier Luigi Nervi were granted in court the intellectual property rights over the building, thus giving them veto power over every planned change they wouldn't approve.[128]
The Italian Rugby Federation thus resolved to give Roma Capitale back the management rights of the venue and to ask for the permanent use of the Olimpico.[129][130][131]
The Olimpico debuted in the Six Nations on 11 February 2012 during an unusual icy weekend: the pitch was frozen because of the snowfall that hit Rome in the previous 24 hours.
The first guest in the new venue were England that won 19–15 after having trailed for almost one hour.[132]
As of the conclusion of the 2023 Six Nations tournament, 39 test matches have been played by Italy in the venue since their first in 1954. Aside from the 30 in the 12 tournament seasons so far played, Italy played four matches at the Olimpico before their admission to the Six Nations and five more after 2000. Apart from the Six Nations sides, the most frequent guest at Olimpico are the All Blacks, whom played four test matches there.[133]
With the roofing, the Olimpico became a suitable venue for concerts.
The first act overall to perform in the stadium were Miles Davis and Pat Metheny jointly in July 1991 in front an extimated crow of 20,000.[134]
The first Italian artist to feature at the Olimpico was instead Zucchero Fornaciari in June 1993 during his tour l'Urlo, attended by 10,000 spectators.[135]
The record attendance for musical events belongs to Claudio Baglioni during a stage of his tour Da me a te.
On 6 June 1998, the first of his two concerts in Rome sold 82,000 tickets;[6] aside from that, 8,000 spectators were admitted for free to reach a total attendance of 90,000.[136]
The record was made possible because the then CONI president Mario Pescante allowed the artist to install a 112-metre long and 72 wide stage on the pitch, since CONI had already planned the replacement of the grass turf soon after the concert,[6] thus the attendance did not seat only in the southern stand, as usual, but in every stand of the stadium.[6][136]
The most present performer overall is the Italian singer-songwriter Vasco Rossi with 23 concerts between 1991 and his most recent in 2023.[137]
Amongst the most recurrent acts is also Luciano Ligabue who performed 13 times at the Olimpico between 1996 and 2023.[138]
Also relevant, though not a part of any tour, the performances of David Bowie and Tina Turner at 1996 Rome's Live Rock Festival, held in the southern stand of the Olimpico,[142] and the Rome's stage of R.E.M.'s 2005 Around the Sun Tour.[143]
The table below reports the average season attendance at league matches held at the Stadio Olimpico for Lazio and Roma.[144]
The Olimpico's certified attendance record stands at 78,886 set on 12 May 1974 for the game of the 29th matchday of the 1973-74 Serie A between Lazio and Foggia.[4]
The home side won the match 1-0 and, accordingly, their first Scudetto one matchday in advance.[145]
For that season, SS Lazio's seasonal ticket holders were 18,392,[4] to whom were added the paying spectators for that matchday who were 60,494,[4][145] reaching a total attendance of 78,886.[4]
^ abc"Impianti di serie A – stagione 2017/2018" [Serie A venues season 2017/2018] (PDF) (in Italian). Rome: Osservatorio Nazionale sulle Manifestazioni Sportive del Ministero dell'Interno. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
^Gianni Puccini (17 May 1953). "In 100.000 allo Stadio Olimpico" [100,000 at the Olympic Stadium] (PDF). l'Unità (in Italian). Rome. p. 4. Archived(PDF) from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
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