March 14 – AC Milan’s current and former American owners have both refuted allegations from Italian prosecutors over who runs the seven-time European champion.
Milan’s offices were raided by police on Tuesday as part of an investigation by prosecutors into the sale of the Serie A giants.
RedBird Capital Partners purchased Milan from fellow American firm Elliott Management in August 2022, but Milan prosecutors claim Elliott still owns and controls the Italian club.
“RedBird Fund IV and its investors own 99.93% of AC Milan; the other 0.07% are individual legacy Italian investors that are long standing fans of the club. The notion that RedBird doesn’t own and control AC Milan is just false and contradicts all the evidence and facts,” RedBird said in a statement.
“When we took control of the club upon closing, Elliott provided loan financing to RedBird with a term of three years and no voting rights,” RedBird added.
In a separate statement, Elliott said “this allegation (from the Milan prosecutors) is false. AC Milan was sold to RedBird on 31st August 2022. As of that date, the Elliott funds have had no equity interest in, or control over, AC Milan.”
Italian financial police also reportedly searched the homes of current CEO Giorgio Furlani and former chief executive Ivan Gazidis, who held the role from 2018 to 2022.
Furlani and Gazidis are being investigated for allegedly hiding information related to the sale of the club.
Milan said it is a “third party and extraneous to the ongoing legal action,” adding that it was “giving its full cooperation to the investigating authority.”
The club could nevertheless be fined or docked points by the Italian soccer federation.
RedBird also addressed speculation that the club is courting new investors in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere.
“There are no discussions with any investor who would have any control in the club,” RedBird said. “RedBird is the control owner of AC Milan and will stay that way.”
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