米兰双雄都属于中国人了

AC米兰俱乐部老板、意大利前总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼称，他已经将这家传奇的意大利俱乐部卖给了中国的财团。

英国广播公司（BBC）报道称，曾经担任过四届意大利总理，随后又陷入税务欺诈和受贿丑闻的贝卢斯科尼在本周二对一家意大利报纸表示，这次交易在解决俱乐部的债务问题之外，还会带来约8.3亿美元的收入。

在《米兰体育报》网站上的一段视频中，贝卢斯科尼说道：“米兰已经踏上了通往中国的道路。这是一次重要的决定，我要将AC米兰交托给有能力让它在意大利、欧洲和全球扮演主角的人。”

然而，这位79岁的老人并未透露买家的身份，这让人们推测针对红黑军团——这家获得过14次欧洲冠军和4次世界冠军的全球第三成功的俱乐部——的交易仍然没有最终敲定。中国搜索引擎百度（Baidu）的领导人李彦宏和网购商城阿里巴巴集团（Alibaba Group）的创始人马云被认为是最有可能的中国买家。

中国投资者正在这个被称作“美丽游戏”的运动项目上进行着高调的收购，这笔交易正是这次收购浪潮的最新成果。上个月，AC米兰的同城对手国际米兰（Internazionale）被中国电商巨头苏宁（Suning）收购，英国俱乐部阿斯顿维拉（Aston Villa）也被中国科技商人夏建统买下。中国建筑业巨头万达集团（Wanda Group）也持有了西班牙马德里竞技俱乐部（Atlético Madrid）20%的股份。

20世纪90年代初，AC米兰围绕着保罗·马尔蒂尼和马尔科·范巴斯滕等意大利和荷兰球星打造球队，统治了欧洲足坛。不过该俱乐部在过去12年中只赢得了一次意甲冠军。他们遭遇了一系列财务净亏损，需要定期的资本注入。在去年，进军两个欧洲俱乐部锦标赛的资格，他们甚至全部丧失了，这导致他们的收入遭到严重损失。

Sports International北京办事处的首席执行官对《时代》（TIME）杂志表示：“中国对意大利的俱乐部尤其感兴趣。中国有许多中年人都是在电视上看着意大利俱乐部的比赛长大的。”

中国的习近平主席自称是足球爱好者。2014年，他提出了关于中国足球改革发展的50条总体方案，希望振兴中国的足球实力。除了中国企业在海外收购俱乐部之外，许多国际顶尖的球星也开始为中国的俱乐部效力。 （财富中文网） 

译者：严匡正

Storied Italian soccer club AC Milan has been sold to a Chinese consortium, says the club’s owner, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Berlusconi, who served four terms as Prime Minister but was later convicted of tax fraud and bribery, told an Italian newspaper Tuesday that the deal would bring in around $830 million after the club’s debt had been settled, reports the BBC.

“Milan has now embarked on this path towards China,” Berlusconi said in a video posted on the website of La Gazzetta dello Sport, according to a translation provided by Bloomberg. “It’s an important decision to give AC Milan to someone able to make it be a protagonist in Italy, Europe and globally.”

However, the 79-year-old did not disclose the identity of the buyers, leading to speculation the deal for the Rossoneri — the world’s third most successful club with 14 European and four world trophies — had still to be finalized. Robin Li, head of Chinese search engine Baidu -0.19% , and Jack Ma, founder of online marketplace Alibaba Group -0.42% , are thought the most likely candidates.

The sale would represent the latest high-profile acquisition by Chinese investors seeking to make waves in the so-called beautiful game. Last month, AC Milan’s city rival Internazionale was sold to Chinese electronics retail giant Suning, while British club Aston Villa was bought by Chinese technology businessman Tony Xia. Construction giant Wanda Group also owns 20% of Spain’s Atlético Madrid.

The club dominated European soccer in early 1990s with a team built around Italian and Dutch superstars including Paolo Maldini and Marco van Basten. But it has only won the Italian championship once in the last 12 years. It has suffered a string of financial net losses and needed regular capital injections, and last year failed to qualify even for either of the two European club tournaments, badly denting its revenue outlook.

“Chinese are especially great admirers of Italian clubs,” Qiang Bai, CEO of the Sports International Beijing agency, tells TIME. “Many middle-aged Chinese grew up watching Italian clubs on TV.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping is a self-professed soccer fan and in 2014 outlined a 50-point plan to revitalize the nation’s prowess at soccer. Aside from acquisitions abroad, some of the world’s top soccer stars have begun playing for Chinese teams.