'It’s a thing to be protected' – letter pleads with Scaroni not to build in San Donato

There has been another twist in the stadium saga as the granddaughter of Eni’s founder has asked AC Milan president Paolo Scaroni to not go ahead with building a new stadium in San Donato.

This morning’s edition of La Repubblica (via PianetaMilan) relays the words of Rosalba Mattei, the granddaughter of Eni’s founder Enrico Mattei, who aims to stand against the construction of the new Milan facility in the San Francesco area.

Interviewed by the paper in the Milanese edition, Rosalba Mattei confirmed that she had asked Scaroni not to build Milan’s new stadium in San Donato and she gave a rather sentimental reason for the plea.

“My uncle had no children and at the weekend I went with him to the Abbey of Chiaravalle. When I came to San Donato [Eni’s headquarters] he took me to mass there and told me about Saint Bernard of Chiaravalle,” she said.

“I think it’s a thing to be protected. The abbey is a place where people go to pray, where the monks have an agricultural company. I am nobody to say that a stadium in San Donato cannot be built, but many have called me to ask me to intervene.”

The Abbey of Santa Maria di Rovegnano – to give it its full name – is a Cistercian monastic complex which sits around half a kilometre from where Milan intend to build their new complex.The abbey was founded on 22 January 1135.

According to La Repubblica, Rosalba Mattei’s intervention also involved the archbishop of Milan – Mario Delpini – who is taking action to protect the interests of the Abbey and its monks.

As a reminder of why this might be listened to by Scaroni, he was appointed CEO of ENI in 2005, who are an Italian multinational energy company. During his tenure, ENI’s net worth increased from €39bn to €61bn before he left his role in 2014, as per Wiki.