“Revelations about the darker-than-they-seem links between Lille and Milan’s former owner through Elliott Management,” reads the headline in the upper section of today’s front page of L’Équipe. France’s leading sports daily has investigated the relationship between the two clubs between 2020 and 2022 and the American fund.
The Milan-Lille connection investigation
According to the French newspaper, new elements have emerged concerning an influence allegedly exerted by the Singer family’s group over Lille and Milan during those three years, while the two teams were playing in the Europa League and Champions League. The article also reports a message from Maarten Petermann, a Dutch partner and executive at Merlyn Partners, the company that has owned LOSC since 2020. "“I tried to find a way to destroy him, but I was told he could not be dismissed.” The violent remark was directed at the author of the L’Équipe piece, according to the article’s itself.) the man wrote in a WhatsApp chat on 17 June 2022. The response from Elliott Fund was not long in coming.
Elliott Fund’s statement in response
Elliott has responded to L’Équipe's investigation in a statement reported by multiple Italian outlets, denying that it exercised control or decisive influence over Lille.
“Italian prosecutors examined and assessed all this material in its proper context and recommended that the proceedings be closed without any charges. We are disappointed, but not surprised, to see that, shortly before this recommendation was reviewed by an Italian court, selected materials were made public, most likely by a frustrated counterparty prone to pursuing frivolous legal actions, which has not succeeded in any of the numerous legal proceedings it has initiated. UEFA has already examined the matter and determined that Elliott exercises no control or decisive influence over Lille. Elliott’s only relationship with Lille has always been that of a financier. Put simply, none of these allegations has any basis.”
