AC Milan said Saturday a former oil company boss had been put in charge of the top-ranked Italian football club while they searched for a new chief executive, after U.S. fund Elliott took control.
Milan said Paolo Scaroni, the longtime CEO of Italian oil group Eni and now deputy chairman of investment bank Rothschild, had been named as executive chairman and would take on interim management of the club.
His appointment was announced as the club named a new board.
Official Statement ⬇https://t.co/OtOgsG47ij
— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 21, 2018
CEO Marco Fassone, who was hired last year by the club's former Chinese owners, has stepped down with immediate effect.
Elliott took over the indebted football club after Yonghong Li, who last year had bought Milan from former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, failed to honour a repayment that was due to the U.S. fund.
Milan said the board would meet again shortly to discuss a new business plan and define a strategy to regain Champions League status.
OFFICIAL: AC Milan will play in the Europa League next season after their ban from UEFA competitions was overturned pic.twitter.com/RPPS7JxbIz
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 20, 2018
The loss-making club are second only to Real Madrid in the list of winners of Europe's top club competition, but they have failed to win any major silverware since 2011.
Elliott has committed to a 50m euro ($59m) capital injection, prompting the Court of Arbitration for Sport Friday to overturn a decision by European football body Uefa to ban Milan from the next Europa League competition due to their poor finances.
"This is a critical moment in the club's storied history, and we're all grateful to have a new owner committed to return Milan to their former glory," Scaroni said in the statement.
