OLYMPICS: Work to be done but Milan ice hockey venue opens its doors

The Santagiulia ice hockey arena in Milan, which will stage the top matches at the Winter Olympics next month, finally opened its doors to the public on Friday night with a test event featuring Italy's top teams.

The inside of the venue remains under construction, with hospitality areas and locker rooms yet to be completed. The media section has also been set up on a temporary basis.

The first test game also faced a brief delay when a small hole in the ice close to one of the goals had to be repaired.

Speaking at a briefing before the inaugural match, Chief Games Operations Officer Andrea Francisi said he was "100%" confident the facilities would be good enough for NHL players to take part in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

Local organisers said last month that the rink would be safe after it emerged that the surface would be a little shorter than NHL specifications, raising concerns over the risk of even more high-speed collisions between players.

MILAN TO CO-HOST OLYMPICS NEXT MONTH

International Olympic Committee Sport Director Pierre Ducrey said the difference in size compared with NHL standards was marginal and the rink fully met requirements.

Slow progress on completing the venue has emerged as the main headache in the run-up to the Olympics which will be co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo from February 6-22.

The arena, which will have a capacity of 15,300 spectators, will host 4,000 fans during the test days this weekend when it is hosting the Final Four event of Italy's Championship and the 2025/2026 Italian Cup.

"The goal of these three days is to understand whether what we have put in place for the competitions works," Francisi said.

Teething troubles were evident during the first game when the ice had to be repaired.

"It was a small hole that was fixed in five minutes," Florian Wieser, who played in the game, wrote on social media.

"Ice was really good, I was surprised how good it was and it will only get better," he added.

A Milano Cortina spokesperson said such incidents were considered normal during initial tests and that the ice held up better than expected.

The Santagiulia is one of two ice hockey venues for the Games, and is scheduled to host the gold-medal games.

After the Games, it will host sports and live entertainment.

-Elvira Pollina/Reuters