June 12 – Former AC Milan owner, media mogul and strongman of far-right Italian politics Silvio Berlusconi has passed away, aged 86.
Italian media reported on Monday that he died at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan with no cause of death given. He had been hospitalized last week as part of his ongoing treatment for leukaemia and other ailments.
Born in 1936 in a blue-collar neighbourhood of Milano, Berlusconi was an AC Milan supporter from a young age, cherishing players like Pietro Degano and Ettore Puricelli.
At 25, Berlusconi established his holding Fininvest – the origin of the 113 million lire (€62 million) to do so unknown – before he moved into media. He entered football in 1986 when he acquired AC Milan for 25 billion Lire (€14 million). At the time, the club was plying its trade in Serie B and close to bankruptcy. They had been eliminated by Belgium’s Waregem from the UEFA Cup.
But Berlusconi transformed Milan’s fortunes. He used his political influence as well as his financial resources and media network to build a European superpower. Manager Arrigo Sacchi became the architect of Milan’s sporting success. A team that included Marco Van Basten and Paolo Maldini won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990.
Berlusconi quickly realised the power of TV. In the early 1990s he said: “Television is becoming the temple of football. It should never happen again that a match is not broadcast because there is already so much football on TV. A match is a sporting event, but also a spectacle. I see AC Milan as a laboratory for the football of the future. A type of football that goes beyond the football that can be seen in the stadiums. A sport that mainly appeals to the TV viewer, the largest group of enthusiasts.’
In 2017, Berlusconi sold Milan for €740 million, but a year later he took over Monza, a small club that debuted in the Serie A last summer. It was to be his last exploit in the game.
Berlusconi served as Italy’s prime minister three times in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011.
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