AC Milan put up for sale to pay off debt
(Baonghean.vn) - The Sun (UK) reported that owner Yonghong Li has declared bankruptcy and is preparing to sell AC Milan to pay off debts. The fate of the team, founded in 1899, is more uncertain than ever as it is unclear who will be the new owner of the San Siro Stadium.
Tradition and achievements
AC Milan withJuventus and Inter Milan are three clubs with long-standing traditions in the boot-shaped country. AC Milan, or simply Milan, is a football club in the city of Milan, Italy, founded on December 16, 1899.
At the international level, Milan and Argentina's Boca Juniors currently hold the record for most international titles with 18, including 4 Intercontinental Cups/Club World Cups, 5 European Super Cups, 7 European Cups/UEFA Champions Leagues and 2 Cup Winners' Cups.
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| AC Milan owner Yonghong Li declared bankruptcy and put the team up for sale. Photo: Internet |
If in the European arena, Milan is the Italian club with the most titles, then in the Italian National Football Championship, the club has the second most achievements, after Juventus 33 times and equal to Inter Milan, with 18 national championship titles (Scudetto), 5 National Cups and 5 National Super Cups.
Milan is still the third most followed club in Italy with 13.6%, behind Juventus (32.5%) and Milan's city rivals Inter (14%). In a study conducted the same year by the German companySport+Market, Milan is the 5th most supported football team in Europe and is the highest-ranked Italian club on this list.
In April 2017, AC Milan was sold by Mr. Berlusconi to a group of businessmen from China, represented by Yonghong Li. Since the change of ownership, Yonghong Li, in addition to paying the debts to Rossoneri, has also spent nearly 200 million euros to help the San Siro team upgrade their squad.
It seemed that owner Yonghong Li would continue to pump money to soon bring AC Milan back into the race with Juventus, but recently, Chinese billionaire Yonghong Li declared bankruptcy.
According to Italian law, his assets, including AC Milan, will be auctioned on the Chinese version of Ebay. The club's reason is that it is no longer able to pay its debts and currently two banks are suing for unpaid debts.
To get the money to invest in the club, the Chinese billionaire had to borrow from the investment fund Elliott Management on the condition that Milan had to qualify for the Champions League, as well as further win the Scudetto.
However, in January 2018, when Milan was due to pay a debt of about 300 million euros to Elliott Management, Yonghong Li and his partners were unable to pay the debt and had to declare bankruptcy.
Waiting for a miracle
UEFA has now asked Milan to clarify the club's current financial situation. If they fail to convince UEFA, Milan could be sanctioned for violating financial fair play rules and potentially banned from European Cups.
If this becomes reality, it will be a great tragedy for the San Siro audience and the red-black striped team players.
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| Milanistas are worried about the fate of the team. Photo: Internet |
In terms of expertise, AC Milan is ranked 7th in Serie A this season and has reached the round of 16 of Europa League. At the end of November 2017, AC Milan decided to fire coach Vincenzo Montella due to poor performance, the person who will take the position of interim coach is Mr. Gennaro Gattuso, a former player of the San Siro team.
Milanistas are hoping that under Gattuso's guidance, the team will make steady progress and smiles will soon return to the San Siro. But for now, they have to wait for the miracle of the new boss!
