Police raid AC Milan HQ over sale to RedBird

Italy's finance police raided on Tuesday the headquarters of AC Milan as part of an investigation into the sale of the Serie A giants to American investment fund RedBird.

Milan confirmed the raids reported by Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI and said that the club itself was not being investigated, but that current CEO Giorgio Furlani and his predecessor Ivan Gazidis were.

The club added that the pair were being probed for "incorrect communication" to supervisory bodies and that Milan were "cooperating fully with the investigative authorities".

AGI reported that Furlani and Gazidis were being looked at for obstructing Italian football's supervisory commission COVISOC.

RedBird acquired Milan from fellow US group Elliott Management in August 2022 for 1.2 billion euros (at the time $1.3 billion).

AFP were told at the time of the sale that Elliott have financial interest in the form of a vendor loan to RedBird to help finance the acquisition.

Elliott had acquired Milan in 2018 when Chinese businessman Li Yonghong was unable to repay a loan he had taken out when he bought the club from the late Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest in 2017