The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Milan, Italy | AFP | AC Milan’s superb recent run faces a stiff test against Arsenal in the Europa League last-16 first leg in Italy on Thursday amid a backdrop of murky finances which are threatening one of Italy’s most successful clubs.
Former AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has turned around the fortunes of the struggling former European power on the pitch, with his side unbeaten in 13 games, and back within reach of Champions League qualification.
But behind the scenes European football’s governing body UEFA have voiced concerns over the club’s complicated financial situation under their new Chinese owners.
? Here’s how we line up at San Siro for tonight’s game against @acmilan #ACMvAFC pic.twitter.com/tVuSbXwxgF
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) March 8, 2018
There have been questions about the financial stability of the Chinese-led consortium that purchased the club from Silvio Berlusconi for 740 million euros ($918mn) last April, spending more than 200 million euros on new players in the summer.
The seven-time European champions have a massive loan for repayment and are in trouble with Financial Fair Play restrictions, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) given the mandate to refinance debts.
AC Milan are working to refinance more than 300 million euros in high-interest loans from US hedge fund Elliott Management. If the club is not able to refinance by next October the US hedge fund will seize control of the club.
But limited information on the source of Chinese owner Li Yonghong’s wealth is proving a barrier to refinancing with the 48-year-old businessman last month dismissing reports he was insolvent when he purchased the club.
The club are also in the firing line with UEFA.
European football’s governing body in December rejected AC Milan’s offer of a voluntary agreement to restructure finances, stating “there are still uncertainties in relation to the refinancing of the loans to be paid back in October 2018 and the financial guarantees provided by the main shareholder”.
UEFA will assess Milan’s finances again in the coming months with possible punishments including limits on transfer spending, player salaries, and squad sizes for UEFA competitions.
The boss has given us some team news…
? “Hector has not travelled. It’s his left knee. He tried to train today but was in too much pain. It looks short-term.”#ACMvAFC pic.twitter.com/MkV71jHPff
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) March 7, 2018
– Europa League boost –
In the meantime a board meeting will be called to approve a capital increase to get the club through to the end of the season making the revenue generated by their Europa League run of increased importance.
“I’m very optimistic about any potential refinancing of the club’s debt,” said Marco Fassone, AC Milan’s managing director as the club announced losses for the first half of the season to December 31, 2017 were down to 22.3 million euros from 39.4 million for the same period in 2016.
