Thai property tycoon Bee Taechaubol urged Silvio Berlusconi "not to sell" AC Milan to a group of Chinese investors, according to FOOTBALL ITALIA. Taechaubol had agreed to a deal to take 48% of the club, "but the investment was repeatedly delayed." Berlusconi "eventually lost patience," and is on the verge of selling 80% of the Rossoneri to a group from China, but the previous candidate says his offer is still on the table. Taechaubol said, "The people who are in talks are financial brokers, and the fund manager will become CEO of Milan. With a whole bunch of money from 10 companies in China, that’s just looking at extracting money and making a profit for investors. ... I think it would be arrogant for anyone who is not Italian -- especially Asians -- to think that we should have the right to own Milan. Fans might say, 'Oh great, somebody’s coming to invest,' but when you spend money and the club does well, they look up and think, 'Why are there a bunch of Asians sitting up there?'" Taechaubol "also denied that he had struggled to raise the necessary capital to complete his proposed investment." He said, "Money is not an issue, there was just a lot of confusion" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 7/7).
