the scandalous Silvio Berlusconipresident of the Monza football club, promised his players to bring “to the locker room” a “bus of prostitutes”, as observed in a video widely shared by the Italian media. The former Prime Minister of Italy and current president of the Forza Italia party, 86, made these statements, described as “unfortunate” by many media, during the club’s Christmas dinner organized last night, according to the Italian agency Ansa.
With a microphone in hand, Berlusconi celebrated last September having chosen a new “good, friendly, educated and capable of motivating our players” coach. “I have added extra motivation, because I have told the players: now Juventus, AC Milan etc. are coming, and if they win against one of these great teams, I will bring a bus of prostitutes to the locker room,” he told the crowd. laughter from those present.
The video with Berlusconi’s controversial speech
The newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport regretted this “unfortunate” comment. La Repubblica He stressed that this excerpt was not published on Berlusconi’s Twitter account, where he uploaded videos of that night of celebration with the footballers, the club’s leaders and the sponsors.
Contacted by the AFP agency, the Monza club confirmed that a delegation of players participated in that dinner but did not comment on the controversial statements by its president.
Berlusconi is still linked in Italy, but also abroad, to ‘Rubygate’, a case of libertine parties, organized by the former prime minister, with young girls, sometimes minors. The also businessman was acquitted of the charge of prostitution of minors, but remains accused of witness tampering in this case.
The modest club Monza, acquired in 2018 in exchange for three million euros by Berlusconi, Former president of Milan, he is playing the first season in his history in Serie A, the highest category. The Lombard team is currently in 14th place, after a difficult start and the change of coach in September.
Story of a modest club
Silvio Berlusconi was 82 years old when he decided to buy the Monza clubfrom the Italian third division. Only three years later he achieved promotion to Serie A, the highest category of football in that country. The sporty detail is simple: beat Pisa in the playoff final (2-1 at home and 4-3 in the Tuscan city, in extra time). But behind that success there is a story. Because at an age when he might as well have relaxed and enjoyed his mansion in Arcore, Il Cavaliere he suffered from a lack of adrenaline and there he went in search of it.
Of the 740 million euros that had entered his account when selling AC Milan to a Chinese investment group, he took barely three million and bought one hundred percent of the shares of the Associazione Calcio Monza, a club from the Lombardy region founded in 1912, which had an unattractive feature for anyone who wants to invest in it: went through two bankruptcies, in 2004 and in 2015.
The purchase was made through Fininvest, one of Berlusconi’s own companies. Adriano Galliani, a man he had trusted since the days of Milan, was left in charge of the club’s administration. The acting president is someone close to him: his brother, Paolo Berlusconi.
“It was an act of love by Berlusconi. She wanted to do something for the area where she lived since the 70’s.. From Arcore you can see the lights of Brianteo, the Monza stadium”, Galliani highlighted when he arrived at the club.
The start was full steam ahead, although his dream of immediate promotion evaporated: after finishing fifth in his Serie C group, Monza lost in the quarterfinals. For the following year, Berlusconi invested close to 14,000,000 euros to improve all facilities and to add reinforcements. Among them came the Argentinian defender Gabriel Palettaformer Banfield and Boca, among other clubs.
THE NATION