QUOTE
Our exclusive interview with the president's daughter, who will soon be on the club's board of directors: "I want to tie the family's name to this club for another 25 years. The player I admire most is Maldini. Me and Pato? They were just photos of a dinner with friends"
MILAN, 26 February 2011 - It used to be Leonardo's office and behind her is a huge photo of Fabio Capello's AC Milan side celebrating the Italian Super Cup after beating Torino in 1993. Barbara Berlusconi asks whether there is enough light coming in from the window that looks onto Via Turati - a demonstration of her simple and sunny personality as she welcomes a journalist to the Rossoneri headquarters for the first time - before giving her take on all sorts of AC Milan matters, from Sacchi to Ancelotti, Gullit to Gattuso, Maldini to Pato.
Barbara Berlusconi, you travelled to Verona last weekend for your first Serie A away game: is this the start of a new career with the Rossoneri?"That game coincided with the 25th anniversary since Silvio Berlusconi took over at AC Milan. Being there was a way of showing how proud I am of the incredible journey my father decided to undertake, and the success he has managed to achieve. With his passion, his ability, his gut feelings and his unbridled desire to win, AC Milan has become an example of quality, continuity, determination and success in the world of football. I think there are few clubs indeed that have been able to offer their fans so many intense and unforgettable emotions in just 25 years."
- Which part of your father's philosophy from the past 25 years would you most like to maintain?"The ability to keep setting new targets for the team and new objectives for the club, and keep innovating with the same desire to remain at the top, nationally and internationally. That has been, and must remain, the mission of this club. We want to keep up the AC Milan dream: to be the best in Italy, Europe and the world."
- What would you say is the defining moment of your father's reign as president?"There are lots of photos tracing AC Milan's history in our offices in Via Turati, but the one I like most shows my father holding the European Cup aloft as he is lifted up by Massaro, Ancelotti and Maldini, after beating Benfica in 1990. That picture contains the sheer joy of victory and you can understand the key role Silvio Berlusconi played in making AC Milan great right from the beginning."
- You have been spending time at the club's headquarters for three months now: why have you started showing more of an interest in AC Milan?"I'm here because I want to have a better understanding of how things work in this world. AC Milan is very important to Fininvest so it's right that we should be directly involved in the development of the club."
- Do you know what role you might take on within the club?"It's not my aim to have a managerial role here. I would like to show that I am looking after the best interests of the club and my family, who are very keen on maintaining a direct relationship with the club."
- AC Milan, though, officially has no president. Could you be the club's first woman president?"I think it's too early to speak about the presidency because I'm not a football expert. I studied philosophy, I've worked in the art world, I'm interested in management and corporate strategy, and I intend to continue my studies in that field. Now my involvement in AC Milan is not on the sporting side, but to look at future development. Football is changing and attention has to be focused on the club's next objectives. In these cases a viewpoint from someone not accustomed to its day-to-day routine can bring fresh ideas and constructive proposals for the future."
- What did your father say to you before you got involved with the club?"His argument ran as follows: if you can understand how a football club is managed you'll be able to work in any industry. This is a challenge I'm happy to take on."
- What has surprised you about planet football?"The supporters' huge passion for AC Milan and its remarkable ability to overcome any division – political, social or cultural."
- What would you like to change?"I have an admiration for American sport, but I'm afraid that model can't be replicated in Europe. Here there are no closed championships, so you always need greater financial resources if you want to win."
- Are there any women you admire in football?"I don't know them personally, but I can see there are already women in football working with an impressive level of competence. I would like to see a Serie A match refereed by a woman."
- AC Milan has just celebrated 25 years with Silvio Berlusconi. Would you like to celebrate 50 years in 2036?"If I'm here it means that my family intend to remain with the club for a long time, for the sake of continuity and a vision for the future. Our aim is to continue to be the club with the most silverware in the world for the next 25 years, celebrating that golden jubilee with the Berlusconi family still at the helm."
- What's you first memory of AC Milan?"A match at San Siro, when I was three or four years old. I saw Gullit go to ground and in a concerned tone asked my father, "Why are they being so horrible to that girl with her hair in plaits?" He picked me up in his arms and just couldn't stop laughing."
- Which AC Milan team have you liked the best?"I still like the team built by Arrigo Sacchi, who developed an original idea of football and a perfectly-oiled machine. But my heart belongs to Fabio Capello's team, because I was old enough to enjoy its achievements. I'll never forget the spectacle of that European Cup final against Barcelona in 1994. I was ten, and I can still remember the joy and excitement of it."
- Is there a past player you'd like to see wearing the shirt again?"Paolo Maldini. He stood as an example and represented continuity for almost all these 25 years."
- On the subject of players, in the last few days you've been seen in photographs with Alexandre Pato. What have you got to say about the gossip surrounding them?"The photos were taken last December after a dinner with some mutual friends. At the end of it we said goodbye as we always do."
- With or without Pato, will it be easier to win Serie A or the Champions League?"A football fan has the right to dream. That's why I'll be going to London convinced that we can qualify, without choosing between the Italian title and the Champions League. We have to aim to win everything, including the Coppa Italia."
- Rino Gattuso won't be playing against Tottenham. Have you spoken to him since his suspension?"I don't want to talk about what happened with Gattuso, but I would like to stress one thing. AC Milan is the most successful club in the world and has an important image which has to be safeguarded for the community, the country it represents and the family who own it. So I think that footballers, who are a model for so many people, have to fit in with this philosophy and share its values. Respect, sportsmanship, consideration and fairness are the values I'd like to see promoted by everyone involved in the club."
- Do you also agree with your father's principle that the ideal AC Milan supporter, and the ideal Milanese, should support Inter when Milan can't win?"AC Milan will always have what it takes to win on the field of play. But even if we can't win, never say Inter."
MILAN, 26 February 2011 - It used to be Leonardo's office and behind her is a huge photo of Fabio Capello's AC Milan side celebrating the Italian Super Cup after beating Torino in 1993. Barbara Berlusconi asks whether there is enough light coming in from the window that looks onto Via Turati - a demonstration of her simple and sunny personality as she welcomes a journalist to the Rossoneri headquarters for the first time - before giving her take on all sorts of AC Milan matters, from Sacchi to Ancelotti, Gullit to Gattuso, Maldini to Pato.
Barbara Berlusconi, you travelled to Verona last weekend for your first Serie A away game: is this the start of a new career with the Rossoneri?"That game coincided with the 25th anniversary since Silvio Berlusconi took over at AC Milan. Being there was a way of showing how proud I am of the incredible journey my father decided to undertake, and the success he has managed to achieve. With his passion, his ability, his gut feelings and his unbridled desire to win, AC Milan has become an example of quality, continuity, determination and success in the world of football. I think there are few clubs indeed that have been able to offer their fans so many intense and unforgettable emotions in just 25 years."
- Which part of your father's philosophy from the past 25 years would you most like to maintain?"The ability to keep setting new targets for the team and new objectives for the club, and keep innovating with the same desire to remain at the top, nationally and internationally. That has been, and must remain, the mission of this club. We want to keep up the AC Milan dream: to be the best in Italy, Europe and the world."
- What would you say is the defining moment of your father's reign as president?"There are lots of photos tracing AC Milan's history in our offices in Via Turati, but the one I like most shows my father holding the European Cup aloft as he is lifted up by Massaro, Ancelotti and Maldini, after beating Benfica in 1990. That picture contains the sheer joy of victory and you can understand the key role Silvio Berlusconi played in making AC Milan great right from the beginning."
- You have been spending time at the club's headquarters for three months now: why have you started showing more of an interest in AC Milan?"I'm here because I want to have a better understanding of how things work in this world. AC Milan is very important to Fininvest so it's right that we should be directly involved in the development of the club."
- Do you know what role you might take on within the club?"It's not my aim to have a managerial role here. I would like to show that I am looking after the best interests of the club and my family, who are very keen on maintaining a direct relationship with the club."
- AC Milan, though, officially has no president. Could you be the club's first woman president?"I think it's too early to speak about the presidency because I'm not a football expert. I studied philosophy, I've worked in the art world, I'm interested in management and corporate strategy, and I intend to continue my studies in that field. Now my involvement in AC Milan is not on the sporting side, but to look at future development. Football is changing and attention has to be focused on the club's next objectives. In these cases a viewpoint from someone not accustomed to its day-to-day routine can bring fresh ideas and constructive proposals for the future."
- What did your father say to you before you got involved with the club?"His argument ran as follows: if you can understand how a football club is managed you'll be able to work in any industry. This is a challenge I'm happy to take on."
- What has surprised you about planet football?"The supporters' huge passion for AC Milan and its remarkable ability to overcome any division – political, social or cultural."
- What would you like to change?"I have an admiration for American sport, but I'm afraid that model can't be replicated in Europe. Here there are no closed championships, so you always need greater financial resources if you want to win."
- Are there any women you admire in football?"I don't know them personally, but I can see there are already women in football working with an impressive level of competence. I would like to see a Serie A match refereed by a woman."
- AC Milan has just celebrated 25 years with Silvio Berlusconi. Would you like to celebrate 50 years in 2036?"If I'm here it means that my family intend to remain with the club for a long time, for the sake of continuity and a vision for the future. Our aim is to continue to be the club with the most silverware in the world for the next 25 years, celebrating that golden jubilee with the Berlusconi family still at the helm."
- What's you first memory of AC Milan?"A match at San Siro, when I was three or four years old. I saw Gullit go to ground and in a concerned tone asked my father, "Why are they being so horrible to that girl with her hair in plaits?" He picked me up in his arms and just couldn't stop laughing."
- Which AC Milan team have you liked the best?"I still like the team built by Arrigo Sacchi, who developed an original idea of football and a perfectly-oiled machine. But my heart belongs to Fabio Capello's team, because I was old enough to enjoy its achievements. I'll never forget the spectacle of that European Cup final against Barcelona in 1994. I was ten, and I can still remember the joy and excitement of it."
- Is there a past player you'd like to see wearing the shirt again?"Paolo Maldini. He stood as an example and represented continuity for almost all these 25 years."
- On the subject of players, in the last few days you've been seen in photographs with Alexandre Pato. What have you got to say about the gossip surrounding them?"The photos were taken last December after a dinner with some mutual friends. At the end of it we said goodbye as we always do."
- With or without Pato, will it be easier to win Serie A or the Champions League?"A football fan has the right to dream. That's why I'll be going to London convinced that we can qualify, without choosing between the Italian title and the Champions League. We have to aim to win everything, including the Coppa Italia."
- Rino Gattuso won't be playing against Tottenham. Have you spoken to him since his suspension?"I don't want to talk about what happened with Gattuso, but I would like to stress one thing. AC Milan is the most successful club in the world and has an important image which has to be safeguarded for the community, the country it represents and the family who own it. So I think that footballers, who are a model for so many people, have to fit in with this philosophy and share its values. Respect, sportsmanship, consideration and fairness are the values I'd like to see promoted by everyone involved in the club."
- Do you also agree with your father's principle that the ideal AC Milan supporter, and the ideal Milanese, should support Inter when Milan can't win?"AC Milan will always have what it takes to win on the field of play. But even if we can't win, never say Inter."
http://english.gazzetta.it/
I like her already! Thanks for posting the interview, anano. Great read!
Any publicity is good publicity, as they say in showbiz.