From Milan to Monza, football, Silvio Berlusconi's other passion

Few remember the pre-Silvio Berlusconi AC Milan years. When the businessman, who died on Monday at the age of 87, bought the legendary red and black club in 1986, he saved it from great difficulties on the sporting and financial aspects. He immediately makes a mastodon out of it. Milan had won 2 Champions Leagues before him, he will win 5 others with him. From 10 titles in Serie A at the time, he has 19 today.

The most famous names in Italian football, whether coaches Arrigo Sacchi, Fabio Capello or Carlo Ancelotti, players Paolo Maldini, Marco van Basten, Kaka or Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or even the French Marcel Desailly or Jean-Pierre Papin, have crossed Berlusconi's road. Intoxicated by the king of sport, its impact on the people and the tool of power it represents, “Il Cavaliere” embodied a whole section of the transalpine round ball. He is not innocent of the fact that Serie A was considered the flagship championship of world football in the 90s, nor of the Italian coronation at the 2006 World Cup, the culmination of a golden age. All while managing his three periods as head of government (1994-95, 2001-06, 2008-16).

More than a football lover, Berlusconi was a successful president. He even proved it away from Milan, to whom he said goodbye in 2016 after selling it for 740 M€ to Chinese investors. Two years later, through his company Fininvest, Berlusconi became the majority shareholder of Monza, a 3rd division club then most famous for its Formula 1 Grand Prix. Under his thumb, Monza discovered Serie B in 2020 , and has just completed her first season in the elite, where she brilliantly maintained an 11th place.

A key figure in Italian football, Berlusconi has also often been described as sulphurous. Last December, he was still in the news by promising "a bus full of prostitutes" to Monza players if they remained in Serie A. A dubious humor that fed the legend of Berlusconi, a man with 29 trophies amassed with the AC Milan.