“Cardinale’s words were inappropriate and disrespectful”

The President and CEO of Inter, Giuseppe Marotta, spoke to Sky Sport microphones just minutes before the kickoff of the match between Inter and Como, which marks the conclusion of Serie A’s 17th matchday.

The Nerazzurri’s top executive took the opportunity to respond to remarks made by Milan’s owner – and RedBird founder – Gerry Cardinale. Speaking during a masterclass at Harvard Business School, the American businessman had used Inter’s former ownership as a point of comparison for managing a football club.

“Winning championships is obviously an important goal. But you have to balance this with ‘winning smartly.’ Inter won the Scudetto last year and then went bankrupt (referring to the Nerazzurri’s ownership, not the club itself, ed.), is that really what we want? For the fans, my job is to win the Italian championship every year, I understand that,” Milan’s owner had stated.

Marotta responded to these comments as follows:

“Cardinale’s words? I didn’t want to discuss it, but since you asked, it’s only right to respond. These statements are out of place, inappropriate, and disrespectful. Cardinale got a bit confused. It’s true that in past years, our majority shareholder faced financial difficulties, but they were immediately supported by Oaktree, and today Oaktree is the owner. The management of Inter is entirely separate from the shareholders.”

Marotta added:

“We adhere to Financial Fair Play very strictly. We’ve reduced our losses from €246 million to €46 million. And in the meantime, we won the Scudetto, the Supercoppa, and earned the second star. The only team in Milan to have it.”