Gerry Cardinale, founder of AC Milan owner RedBird Capital Partners, told the FT Business and Football summit that professional investors should be ashamed of the financial state of play in European football. Speaking alongside legendary Swedish forward and new RedBird partner Zlatan Ibrahimović, Cardinale said clubs needed to break the cycle and that AC Milan would be a “change agent”.
“We have to be more self-sufficient, we have to be able to
run these things more professionally,” he said. Calls for new competitions,
such as the European Super League, were a “distraction” from years of
mismanagement across the game, he added.
“Let’s own ourselves better. The fact that these things
trade on a multiple of revenue is pure laziness. Shame on all of us. These
things should trade on a multiple of cash flow. Deficit financing yourself, and
blowing your brains out in the transfer market, all this stuff has to change.”
Like many on stage, Cardinale warned that football needs to
be wary of letting leagues and competitions settle into a situation where the
outcome is a foregone conclusion at the start of every season.
“The whole point of sports is the unpredictably of the human
element,” he said. “If it’s the same three or four teams every year that wins
everything, I personally think long-term — when you look at the health of the
ecosystem and you look at valuations — they are just going to be less
valuable.”
Cardinale also confirmed that AC Milan will build a new
“American-style” stadium in the city. A lack of infrastructure investment
since the 1990 World Cup has been a major drag on Italian football, something a
handful of foreign owners hope to change.
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