De Laurentiis unveils plan for 70,000-seat stadium built to keep out ultras, puts Allegri on notice: "coaches are employees"

A new stadium, no ultras, and a pointed message for his head coach. That, in short, was the agenda Aurelio De Laurentiis laid out on Wednesday while accepting an award for his career in sports from the Foreign Press Association. Napoli's president used the occasion to touch on just about everything: the club's future stadium, the violent fan groups that have complicated his life for years, and, almost in passing, a reminder to Massimiliano Allegri about who's really in charge.

De Laurentiis has plenty of reasons to feel good about where things stand. He pulled the club back from bankruptcy, guided it up from Serie C more than two decades ago, and over the last four years alone has won two Scudettos along with five other domestic trophies. But true to form for a man who also produces films, he's not done chasing more.

A stadium built for families, not ultras

Napoli currently plays at the aging Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, which is owned by the city and still has a running track that ruins sightlines from large sections of seating. De Laurentiis wants to tear that arrangement up from the ground floor and already has a plan in motion.

"I have a letter of intent signed a month ago under which we've identified 38 hectares on the east side of Naples, where I've planned a 70,000-seat stadium with 120 boxes, plus restaurants and an interactive museum," the club president explained. That vision, though, runs up against the city's own proposal, which favors renovating the Maradona ahead of Euro 2032, which Italy will co-host with Turkey.

Behind the project lies a deeper concern as well: the ultra groups De Laurentiis has clashed with for years, including a recent attempt to stop them from bringing banners into the stadium. His stadium concept is designed specifically to push those fans out and draw families in.

Soccer should be about passion and participation. It has to be educational for children. There's no room for hooligans, for 'ultras' who come out of the mold of the mafia, the 'ndrangheta and the CamorraAurelio De Laurentiis

"Until our police chiefs and government ministers get this under control, it's going to keep being a serious problem," he added.

A warning with a name attached

Despite the recent trophies, De Laurentiis has gone through five different coaches since Luciano Spalletti left after leading Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, the club's first league crown since the Diego Maradona era, more than three decades earlier. Asked about Spalletti, the president gave an answer that also reads as a warning shot for Allegri, the current coach, who is already feeling the heat after winning just two of his last six matches since taking over from Antonio Conte.

Coaches need to understand that they're hired hands brought in to conduct an orchestra of players. But they're still employees. Sometimes they forget thatAurelio De Laurentiis

Napoli's president, who has a long history of friction with his coaches, also wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of his team playing in the next expanded Club World Cup. Napoli, despite being the reigning Serie A champion, didn't even qualify for the 2025 edition, and De Laurentiis is wary of the 2029 tournament given how many matches the format demands: Chelsea, the champion, and runner-up Paris Saint-Germain played 64 and 65 matches, respectively, that season.

"For UEFA and FIFA to survive, they're chipping away at the importance of national leagues, which are the heart of fan support in every country in the world," he said. "Players aren't physically or psychologically built to handle that kind of workload. But nobody wants to stop it, because it wins votes for the people in charge."

Asked about FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has faced criticism after exploring a plan to let private investors buy stakes in the World Cup and other competitions, De Laurentiis chose not to pile on: "Infantino is doing his job. He's allowed to travel the world under the FIFA badge to meet with Trump, with Putin, and everyone else. What matters is that he stays intellectually honest."