Juventus are to become the first Italian club to have their stadium sponsored.

The concept is so alien to Italians that Juve had to hold a presentation in Milan this week to explain what it was all about, and to look for sponsors. I went along hoping to speak to the directors about potential transfers but most of my Italian colleagues asked question after question about this strange new marketing trend.

Having attended the first game at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton 11 years ago, I’ve become rather used to the idea and don’t think it differs much to sponsored shirts.

Certainly in the case of Bolton Wanderers, the revenue from the sponsorship deal has gone a long way to helping them stay in the Premier League. Several of Germany’s excellent stadiums built ahead of the 2006 World Cup are sponsored, like Munich’s Allianz Arena, and fans there are generally happy.

But should we be worried about where all this is heading? Does every time we mention the name sound like an advert?

The Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen sounds better than Arena AufSchalke, but do we really want existing stadiums changing their names? Hamburg’s stadium changed sponsors after just six years.

Many basketball and cycling teams in Europe even have sponsors in their name. I don’t think fans will want major soccer clubs to go that far, but it has already been tried with TNS in Wales and others will definitely follow.

Mark Meadows, Reuters Sports Correspondent in Milan

After winning promotion to the top flight, most clubs would be happy just consolidating their position for a season. But not Juventus.

Claudio Ranieri’s side are third in Serie A, an excellent achievement following their demotion for match-fixing two seasons ago and the loss of Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram.

Yet Juve are such a big club in Italy that some fans expected them to be challenging for the scudetto immediately. Sunday’s 3-2 defeat at Palermo ended any hope of a late title bid, but surely the Turin club should be ecstatic that they are in a Champions League spot? 

Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedved and Mauro Camoranesi all stayed to win promotion from Serie B and battle back to the upper reaches of the top flight. Keeping those players was a wonderful coup for the club, which also held on to a fan base from across Italy (they have few fans actually in Turin). 

Getting into third spot is even more remarkable given the financial constraints at Juve. Redevelopment of the Stadio delle Alpi, board restructuring following the match-fixing scandal, and an unwillingness from the club’s FIAT backers to plough in lots of cash have all hit the coffers.

They were also not helped by Ranieri buying two midfield duffers in the close season. Sergio Almiron arrived from Empoli but was so ineffective he was quickly shipped off to Monaco while Portugal’s Tiago played his first decent pass all season at Palermo.

Despite all this, Juve have regained the swagger of old where a defeat is so rare it really hurts. The fans should be overjoyed, the club could have sunk like Nottingham Forest and Leeds United have in England.

If Juve can buy a top class creative midfielder, with Werder Bremen’s Diego heavily linked, a championship bid next year might not be so fanciful.

Mark Meadows, Milan 

Italy is hoping the death of a Parma fan on Sunday was not the result of more fan violence.

Matteo Bagnaresi was accidentally knocked down and killed by a bus, forcing Parma’s match at Juventus to be postponed.

Police said Parma and Juve fans were trading insults at a service station on the way to Turin where the accident happened. Juve fans and the coach driver say they were being threatened and that is why they made a quick get away, hitting Bagnaresi without realising.

Italy’s soccer hooligan problem is well-known and despite the facts about the latest incident being unclear, calls have been made for all away travel to be banned. 

Restrictions on travelling supporters are already strict in Italy, with away fans prohibited from attending high-risk games.

AS Roma host Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday following violence at their previous two encounters in Rome. United fans have been warned to stay alert.

Would a ban on all away travel be too much? What is the situation in other countries? The bottle thrown at the visiting keeper during Real Betis v Athletic Bilbao recently came from a home fan, for example.

Mark Meadows, Milan

Juventus have decided to redevelop the moth-balled Stadio delle Alpi, one of the most unloved stadiums in the world.

Built for the 1990 World Cup, most Juve fans have always hated the Turin stadium because a running track kept them too far from the pitch and the acoustics were terrible. The 69,000 capacity ground was also hardly ever full. The Serie A side are currently sharing the smaller Stadio Olimpico with Torino.

What’s your least favourite stadium? The old Wembley had history, but that was part of the problem as it decayed before our eyes. The new version is great, but the trip home through congested north London remains a pain.

Barcelona’s Nou Camp is special, but I once watched a boring 2-0 win over Alaves from the very top tier in January. I could hardly tell which player was which and I was freezing cold. You also wouldn’t believe how uncomfortable the ’seats’ are at Milan’s San Siro.

The new breed of stadiums in England, like Middlesbrough’s Riverside and Derby’s Pride Park, are clean and well-planned but they all look exactly the same and lack soul. I guess they are better than the cow sheds of the lower divisions, though.

Let us know your views in the comments.

Mark Meadows, Milan

PHOTO: The new Wembley is turned into a motor sport track for the Race of the Champions, Dec. 16 2007 REUTERS/Stephen Hird