March 9 – Less than a year after quitting FIFA, where he had served as personal adviser to Gianni Infantino in his role as deputy general secretary, to join AC Milan, Zvonimir Boban has been sacked as the club’s chief football officer following an unsavoury spat with CEO Ivan Gazidis.
AC Milan announced on Saturday that it had fired Boban in the latest upheaval involving the club’s management since Silvio Berlusconi sold out in 2017.
The move came in the wake of an interview Boban gave to Gazzetta dello Sport in which he questioned the direction of the club under the US-based hedge fund Elliott.
“AC Milan confirms that it has informed Zvonimir Boban of the termination of his contract as chief football officer of the club with immediate effect,” the seven-time European champion said in a statement.
“The club thanks Zvonimir for his service to the club over the past nine months, and wishes him all the best for his future professional career.”
Elliott took control of Milan in 2018 after Li Yonghong missed a deadline to repay part of a loan worth more than €300 million that it had used to purchase the club from Berlusconi for $800 million in April 2017.
In order to avoid UEFA financial fair play penalties this season, Milan voluntarily withdrew from the Europa League.
“The club’s ambition remains to return to the top tier of European Football, while investing responsibly in the team in compliance with UEFA Financial Fair Play,” Milan declared.
In the Gazzetta interview, Boban called for more communication from Elliott “for the good of the club.
“It needs to be precise in terms of the budget and goals,” Boban said. “We don’t know what our margins are.”
He also accused Gazidis, formerly at Arsenal, of secretly contacting German coach Ralf Rangnick about taking over as Milan manager from next season.
“It’s disrespectful and not the Milan style,” said Boban, who helped Milan win four Serie A titles as a player between 1991 and 2001, as well as the 1994 Champions League and had returned to San Siro last June in the newly created CFO role.
In his own brief counter-statement, Gazidis said: “We thank Zvone for his efforts over the past nine months and wish him well in his future endeavours.”
“We must now turn our attention to football and the important games to come. (Coach) Stefano Pioli and his staff are doing an exceptional job growing the performances of the team every week and will have our full support as they continue this work, in what is a difficult time for the country.”
Although the club felt that the interview Boban gave was enough to warrant him being sacked, the Croatian claimed it was a complete over-reaction.
Speaking to Il Giornale he hit back in no uncertain terms sarcastically accusing Milan of acting like North Korea.
“My interview is legally flawless, and it came after so many questions of internal clarifications that were promptly ignored,” he said. “I didn’t know we were in North Korea. Rangnick? They secured him in December without telling us anything.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713583024labto1713583024ofdlr1713583024owedi1713583024sni@w1713583024ahsra1713583024w.wer1713583024dna1713583024