Gerry Cardinale, the owner of AC Milan, recently spoke at the ‘Italian Sports Day in the World’ event in New York, addressing several topics including the club’s stadium plans and sending a message to the Rossoneri fans.
Cardinale began by discussing the global perception of football quality, stating, “Today when we talk about football at a global level and think about the highest quality, we talk about England, about the Premier League. As an administrator of Milan and as a participant in Serie A, I want to work with the league and all members of the Italian ecosystem to bring Italy back to what it was in terms of global European football. I believe this is fundamental. I consider Serie A as one of Italy’s greatest exports.”
He emphasized the need for innovation in Italian football, saying, “If we focus only on winning matches, we don’t grow. We can’t do it if we don’t innovate, if we don’t change this paradigm in all of European football where there seems to be this implicit notion that you have to spend everything necessary to win, as if there was a direct correlation between spending and winning.”
Regarding the stadium issue, Cardinale expressed his frustration with the lack of support: “What I’m trying to do, and I’m not receiving much help in the Italian ecosystem, is a partnership between all participants in the value chain: the fans, the local government, the national government, the capital to build our infrastructure. We have the European Championships coming up in 2032. I’m trying to build a stadium in Milan.”
In a final message to Milan fans, Cardinale took a firm stance: “My message to the fans doesn’t seem to be working, so I would say that the message to the fans is that I won’t give you any message until we win. Because I understand that’s the only thing you’re interested in. But I will do my job and we will do everything possible to win. But win intelligently. And if I do, we will be long-lasting. And we will contribute to growing the entire ecosystem, as I believe it is our duty.”
