Winter Olympics organisers face a race against time to finish a new ice hockey arena in Milan – five days before the venue is due to host its first match.
The 11,800-capacity Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena is one of two new venues being constructed in the Italian city before the 2026 Games.
BBC Sport visited the arena on Saturday and found a frantic construction site, with building materials and dust inside and outside the stadium.
Most roads remain closed around the arena, while inside construction materials and rubbish litter the floor.
Many areas of the arena, including hospitality boxes as well as food and drink stalls, are unfinished, while there are no seats in the press area.
While core elements like electricity and running water are functioning, lifts and toilets remain covered in plastic wraps and are scruffy in appearance.
Santagiulia is due to host many of the biggest ice hockey fixtures at the Games, including the men’s and women’s gold medal matches.
The first match is due to be held there on Thursday, 5 February, when hosts Italy face France in their first game of the women’s competition.
However, the stadium, less than a week before that game, is far from ready to host matches.
The stadium has been the centre of concerns throughout the build-up to the Games, including resulting in a boycott warning from the National Hockey League (NHL).
The rink in Milan, approved by the International Ice Hockey Federation, is shorter than the minimum requirement in the NHL, leading to suggestions there could be an increase in high-speed collisions. The quality of the ice has also been questioned.
“Obviously, if the players feel that the ice is unsafe, we’re not going to play,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in November. “It’s as simple as that.”
The NHL said it was “pleased” with the test event at the arena in January, although that did not pass without incident. During the event there was a short delay while a small hole in the ice had to be repaired.
Santagiulia is one of two ice hockey venues for the Games, with the Milano Rho Arena staging some group-stage matches.
The Rho Arena, a temporary venue constructed in the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, has a capacity of 5,800 – 6,000 fewer than Santagiulia.
BBC Sport visited all four venues in the Milan Cluster which will host events during the Games, which officially run between 6 and 22 February.
As well as the ice hockey venues, speed skating will take place at a temporary venue in Fiera Milano to the west of the city, while short track and figure skating are at Unipol Forum on the southern outskirts.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been contacted for comment.
