The sulphurous Silvio Berlusconi, president of the Monza football club, assured that he had motivated his players by promising to bring “into the locker room” a “weight bus”, according to a video widely broadcast on Wednesday by the media Italians. The 86-year-old former prime minister and current chairman of the Forza Italia party made the remarks, described as “unfortunate” by many media, during the club’s Christmas dinner on Tuesday evening, according to the Italian agency Ansa. .
Microphone in hand, Silvio Berlusconi is particularly delighted to have chosen a new coach in September “good, friendly, kind and capable of motivating our players”. “I added extra motivation to it, because I told the players: Juventus, AC Milan, etc. are coming now and if you win against one of these big teams, I’ll take you to the dressing room. a car of p…es”, he launches there, under the laughter of the assembly.
“An Unfortunate Exit”
La Gazzetta dello Sport regretted an “unfortunate exit”. La Repubblica noticed that this excerpt was not broadcast on Berlusconi’s Twitter account where he posted videos of this evening with the players, club officials and sponsors.
These words sparked reactions in the country: “We ask the President of the Council Giorgia Meloni, the first woman President of the Council, what she thinks of the shameful words” of Silvio Berlusconi, launched in the Chamber of Deputies Emma Pavanelli , member of the Five Star movement. Laura Boldrini, ex-president of the Chamber of Deputies, ranked on the left, denounced on Twitter “unworthy words, even more despicable when they are pronounced by a senator of the Republic and a party leader”.
No comments from Monza
“It’s no longer acceptable, the ‘hey, it’s fine, it was just a joke …'”, reacted for his part to AFP Mari Casalucci, member of the trans / feminist movement “Non Una Di Meno”. “What Berlusconi said is a violent, unacceptable sentence and it would be necessary for him to make an act of reparation”, according to this activist.
Contacted by AFP, the Monza club confirmed that a delegation of players took part in this dinner but made no comment on the boss’s controversial remarks. The former Prime Minister remains associated in Italy but also abroad with “Rubygate”, a matter of libertine parties organized by Silvio Berlusconi with young girls who are sometimes minors. He was acquitted of underage prostitution, but remains on trial for witness tampering in that case.
Monza, bought in 2018 by the former president of AC Milan, is playing the very first season in its history in Serie A (1st division). The Lombard club are currently fourteenth, after a difficult start and a coaching change in September.