Environmentalists protest against cagliari football stadium

Environmentalists in Sardinia on Friday spoke out against the damage potentially caused by a football stadium in Quartu Sant'Elena east of the regional capital on a nearby protected area. WWF Sardinia is concerned about the impact of the traffic and light and noise pollution from the Is Arenas stadium - which is to host Cagliari Calcio club matches for three years from the 2012-2013 season - on the wildlife and habitat at the nearby Molentargius pond and has called on the local mayor to interrupt relations with the football club to protect it from further damage. In a letter WWF Sardinia President Antonello Secci denounced the fact that the floodlights used at a recent evening match had illiminated the protected area and frightened the flamingos and other wildlife. "We do not consider the presence of a stadium hosting premier league matches to be sustainable next to and inside the boundaries of a protected area falling into the Natura 2000 network as a Zone of Special Protection," Secci said.