MILAN, Jan 9 - The Santagiulia ice hockey arena in Milan, which will stage some of the biggest matches at the Winter Olympics next month, finally opened its doors to the public on Friday with a test event featuring Italy's top teams.

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.