AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has played down claims of an impending crisis following a shareholders meeting at which the struggling Serie A giants came under attack amid reports of nearly €90 million (Dh37.6m) in losses for 2015.
Reports Thursday claimed Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi could finally go through with plans to sell a majority stake in the club to a Chinese consortium, having seen previous plans come to nothing.
Corriere dello Sport newspaper said an agreement between the two parties – that would see Berlusconi sell 70 per cent of the club and the remaining 30 per cent to be sold off within a year – could be signed at a secret location on Monday.
Galliani, meanwhile, has gone on the defensive after the chief of a minority shareholders’ association, the Associazione Piccoli Azionisti (APA), hit out at the club’s lack of leadership.
A recent audit revealed more than €89m in losses for 2015, adding to fears Milan’s slow decline in Europe and in Italy will continue.
In recent years a succession of barely-qualified coaches have failed to lift the seven-time European champions out the mire and Milan are currently struggling to even qualify for next season’s Europa League.
But Galliani said: “All companies go through negative and positive cycles, the board are doing what they can to overcome this negative trend.”
At a shareholders assembly, Galliani and Berlusconi came under attack from Giuseppe Gatti, the president of the APA.
“The situation is getting worse, worse than we could imagine. I never imagined it would get this far,” he said, underlining the club’s failures to improve results despite appointing a series of coaches in recent seasons.
“We can’t say that it’s the fault of (Clarence) Seedorf, (Filippo) Inzaghi or (Sinisa) Mihajlovic. The responsibility lies with management: Galliani and Berlusconi.
“It’s not an act of treason to say the president is also at fault. When Milan were saved from bankruptcy there were still great champions like Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and Filippo Galli.
“Where are the champions today?”
He added, pointing the finger at Galliani: “I’m waiting for you to resign and for Berlusconi to return to being the honorary President. There needs to be a generational change at Milan.”
Milan host relegation-haunted Frosinone on Sunday when the club’s latest coach, Cristian Brocchi, will be looking to avoid dropping points for the third consecutive week, having drawn with minnows Carpi and suffered defeat to basement side Verona last week.
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Russia's Muslim Heartlands
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
