There is chaos in Italy surrounding the AC Milan club ownership. The investigation is ongoing as the authorities continue to try to find irregularities.
As journalist Antonio Vitiello puts it, 'in Italy, you are more at peace if your balance sheet is deep in the red and you have millions in debt rather than trying to do business with Arab buyers.'
The investigation into Milan started due to rumours about investors from the Middle East who could enter the club with minority stakes, hence the search at the headquarters and suspicions that Elliott is still behind the scenes. We are still in the realm of hypotheses; investigations are ongoing, but media-wise the verdict has already been delivered: Milan guilty and penalised for the next season. That's how it works. Then maybe it will be discovered that no crimes or irregularities were committed, but meanwhile, the club's image suffers enormous damage.
The other aspect of the investigation concerns Elliott's impossibility to own stakes in two clubs participating in UEFA competitions. Specifically, Milan and Lille even faced each other in the group stage of the Europa League in 2020 when Elliott was the majority shareholder of Milan. Neither of the two clubs was sanctioned by UEFA, which found no violations of the regulations.
Speaking of Arab buyers. It seems that the investigation has not dampened the desire of some Middle Eastern investors to enter Milan with minority stakes: the Rossoneri club still has a huge appeal. Redbird will hold the majority, it seems clear now, but the continuous trips of Gerry Cardinale and Giorgio Furlani to those parts of the world have been strategic in recent months, as reported by Milan News.
