Soccer Team AC Milan Is Not for Sale, Officials Say

AC MiIan is not for sale, according to high ranking members of the storied soccer club.

Responding to rumors that team owner Silvio Berlusconi -- who is also the Prime Minister of Italy -- needed to sell the team to raise cash, Barbara Berlusconi, the politician's daughter and AC Milan director, insisted that her father's financial set-back would not affect the football club.

"I want to reassure our supporters the group will be there for the club to help them achieve the ambitious aims we have set out," she said in a statement.

"One reason is that I'm sure my father's love for Milan is even greater. In the first place, we've got the scudetto on our shirt, which is a big factor."

The scudetto is a the "little shield" that the Italian Serie A league champions get to add to their uniforms. AC Milan won the top Italian division title during the 2010-211 season.

On July 9, Italian courts ruled that Fininvest, billionaire Berlusconi's holding company, had to pay a media company 560 million euros ($795 million) immediately. The order came from a ruling that Berlusconi's 1990 acquisition of the Mondadori publishing company from Compagnie Industriali Riunite was aided by corruption and bribery.

The investment company must make its payment by Tuesday.

Team vice-president Adriano Galliani assured fans last week that the team will not be sold any time soon.

"We will not limit ourselves to just one target, we want to win everything. We've got what it takes to fight on all fronts, but my personal dream is the Champions League."

"Fininvest, who are the parent company of Milan, have spoken clearly. Berlusconi has the same passion that he always had," he said at a conference in Milan.

"He is the soul of Milan and the fans can relax, as he will be for a long time to come," said Adriano Galliani, team vice-president.

Berlusconi, then a media mogul and entrepreneur, bought the team in 1986. He has invested much of his own money into the team, acquiring the best players in the world.

The team won the 2010-2011 Serie A title behind the force of international greats like Zlatan Ibrahimovi?, Gianluca Zambrotta, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Alexandre Pato. They play in the famous San Siro stadium, which is also home to their perennial rivals Inter Milan.

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