Chile talisman Arturo Vidal has had his name removed from a local stadium amid a disagreement with the local officials. The midfielder apparently wanted the stadium to be accessible for young players, which the authorities denied.
Vidal grew up in San Joaquin, a community in Chile. A 3000 capacity stadium was constructed there, which was associated with his name. San Joaquin’s mayor claimed that Vidal’s name was removed from the stadium because there had been some ‘misunderstanding’ that Vidal had helped fund the stadium’s construction.
Meanwhile, the Inter Milan midfielder took to his Instagram account, stating that he had asked his name to be removed. He did this due to a disagreement with local officials regarding youth players being allowed to play in the stadium.
“We have a project of football schools, to develop future football players, and we never got good answers from the stadium, so I got angry with them,”
the midfielder told in an Instagram live a few days back.
However, Cristobal Labra, the San Joaquin mayor, had a whole different story to tell. He claimed that the 3000 seater stadium was built with the help of funding from the regional government. Hence, they decided to remove Vidal’s name and instead name it “San Joaquin Municipal Stadium”.
Vidal was heavily involved during the construction of the stadium. The 34-year-old laid the first stone in the stadium back in 2012 and was also present for its inauguration in 2016, which proved to be an exceptional year for him as he led his country to Copa America glory.
He believes that it was unfair on him as he lent his name asking for nothing in return. He reckons that the officials should allow local kids to play football in the stadium as that was precisely what he did during his childhood.
The box-to-box midfielder was involved in Inter Milan’s 3-1 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League. He played the entire duration of the game and provided the assist for Brozovic’s opener. His side’s next challenge will be in the form of AC Milan on Sunday in the Serie A.
