UEFA has targeted Lille. As reported by the leading French sports newspaper L ‘Team, the European body would have placed the magnifying glass on the property of the club beyond the Alps to try to establish exactly who the company really belongs to. In particular, it would have ended up in the center of attention the link between Lille and Elliott, owner of AC Milan.
The American fund, in fact, is one of the major creditors of Merlyn Partners, a fund of the LOSC. The thesis under consideration by UEFA is that Elliott himself would indirectly exercise his decision-making power over Lille. Over the last few years Rafael Leao and Mike Maignan have moved on the Lille-Milan axis, while for next season the Rossoneri are aiming for the jewels of Frenchmen Renato Sanches and Sven Botman.
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The potential conflict of interest: reconstruction
In the long in-depth article, the Equipe tries to reconstruct the chain of control of the club that last season won Ligue 1. On 18 December 2020 Lille changed ownership, passing Dall’ex patron Gérard Lopez in the background Elliottthe club’s principal creditor, for a short period of time before all shares were then transferred to Merlyn Partners SCSp. The Luxembourg investment fund bought the debt of the LOSC, then held by the Luxembourg holding company Lux Royalty. For this, in November 2020 he created a management company, the Callisto Sporting SARLregistered in the Luxembourg commercial register.
Here the question becomes more complicated: the article in the French newspaper focuses, in fact, on the so-called “A2 shares “ within the Callisto board of directors. Their value is only legal and allows you to exercise a right of veto, but they bind Callisto, and therefore Lille, to two companies registered under the name of “Birch International I LLC” and “Birch Associates I LLC”, connected to them Elliott. According to the detailed reconstruction of the team, it would therefore remain an influence by Elliott on Lille even after the sale by Gerard Lopez to the Merlyn fund within which, according to the newspaper, there would also be Gordon Singer (son of Paul, founder of the Elliott fund). Meanwhile, Elliott remains a Lille creditor, following a € 50m loan under Lopez.
Milan-Lille, the recent (field) history
In 2020/21 the governing body of European football authorized the two clubs to participate in the Europa League, a competition during which they also met in the group stage. This season the two clubs have both played in the Champions League. When contacted by the French newspaper, UEFA recalled that it had never publicly commented on the specific situations of the clubs, but nevertheless recalled that “all clubs involved in UEFA competitions are monitored by the competent bodies”.
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