2023-07-06 17:52:51
AC Milan and Monza will pay tribute every year to Silvio Berlusconi, their former owner who died in June, during a friendly match in memory of the former Prime Minister, the two Italian Serie A teams announced on Thursday. In a joint statement, the two clubs specified that the first edition of the Silvio Berlusconi Trophy would be held at the U-Power stadium in Monza on August 8.
“This initiative aims to honor and keep alive the memory of President Silvio Berlusconi, who wrote unforgettable pages in the histories of our two clubs,” they explained.
The “Silvio Berlusconi Trophy” is born ????
A game that will be played every year and whose first edition will be held on August 8th#MonzaMilan #AlwaysMilan
— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 6, 2023
Former prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, who died last month aged 86, was a hugely divisive figure in Italy, but his success as a football club owner has made him hugely popular with the tifosi.
He was in charge of AC Milan from 1986 to 2017, making this club on the verge of bankruptcy one of the giants of the European scene. Under his rule, the club won five Champions Leagues and eight Serie A titles. After selling Milan for 740 million euros, he took over Monza in 2018, then in the 3rd division and now in Serie A. Monza finished in 11th place in the championship his first season in the elite of Italian football.
Berlusconi’s death has fueled speculation that the club will be sold by Berlusconi family holding company Fininvest. On Thursday, Berlusconi’s eldest son, Pier Silvio, said he and his siblings would “find a way to keep dad’s dream alive”, adding that administrator Adriano Galliani would be “at the center” of the future of the club.
Born from the media magnate’s first marriage to Carla Dall’Oglio, Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi will together have a 53% share in the family holding company Fininvest, a financial source said on Thursday after the opening of his will. The other three children, Luigi, Eleonora and Barbara, from the second marriage with ex-actress Veronica Lario, will together control the remaining 47%.
Marina Berlusconi, president of Fininvest since 2005, was confirmed in her post at a shareholders’ meeting at the end of June. This holding company controls a myriad of companies, including the television group MediaForEurope (formerly Mediaset), headed by Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the Mondadori editions, chaired by Marina Berlusconi, and the Mediolanum bank.
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