“The Rise and Revival of AC Milan: From Scandal and Decline to European Glory”

2023-04-19 20:42:03

The Italian club, AC Milan, returned to repeat its European glories after a long absence of 16 years, after passing through Napoli in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Milan last qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions for the 2006-2007 season, when it qualified for the final match and crowned the seventh championship in its history, as the second most European club crowned the continental championship.

But for 16 years, what happened at Milan?

pre-collapse

• The presidency of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, extended to Milan during the period from 1986 to 2005.
• Berlusconi was forced to resign from the presidency of the club at the time, due to a law approved by the Italian parliament, preventing a member of the government from exercising any other duties.
• But a few months later, Berlusconi lost his position as head of government, to decide to return to the presidency of Milan, to comment on a television program: “The issue of conflict is gone, I am no longer head of government and I will return to Milan again.”
• In April 2008, Berlusconi was forced to leave office again, to begin a third term as Prime Minister of Italy, leaving the club for 4 years in the hands of his deputy, Galliani.

Scandal ends the golden age

• “Calciopoli”, the scandal that shook Italian football and led to Juventus’ relegation to the second degree, reduced the value of sponsorship for the Italian league matches, in addition to the Milan club not owning the San Siro stadium, which belongs to the Milan City Council and is shared by Inter.
• The sponsorship fee gradually decreased, and the club did not bear the value of the large deals that the top clubs in Europe began to conclude, so Milan declined over the years from 2007 to 2017.
• At the time, Berlusconi decided to end his term after a significant decline over the last ten years in his career with the club, after Milan left the top 20 highest-income clubs in the world.

American stage

• In the summer of 2018, the American company “Elliott Management” bought AC Milan, after the Chinese owner failed to pay the loan, for 303 million euros.
• Despite the club’s improvement and its success in returning to crown the Italian League, it did not succeed in overcoming its financial crises, as Milan’s losses amounted to 145.9 million euros.

New management

• “Elliott” sold a large share of the club, and indeed, in the summer of 2022, the American investment fund “Red Bird Capital Partners” completed the purchase of Milan, days after the Italian team won its first league championship since 2011.
• The fund includes famous American sports companies and personalities, such as American basketball star LeBron James.
• The deal was valued at 1.2 billion euros, but Elliott Management retained a small financial stake and representatives on the board.
• The American “Red Bird” fund also owns the French club Toulouse, and a share in the English club Liverpool through star LeBron James, and the fund’s capital is $ 6 billion.

Back to Europe

• After achieving the title in 2007, Milan participated in the Champions League under the leadership of coaches Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi in the 2013-2014 season.
• At that time, the team left the Champions League in the round of 16, at the hands of Atletico Madrid, by five goals against a goal in the aggregate of the home and away matches.
• Milan won second place in the league in the 2020-2021 season, behind Inter Milan, to participate in the Champions League.
• But the team was eliminated from the group stage last season, by occupying last place in the group that included Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Porto, after collecting only 4 points from a win, a draw and 4 defeats.
• After Milan crowned the Italian League last season after an absence of 11 years, it qualified for the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2007, after overcoming Napoli, which is close to achieving the Italian League title this season.

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