Incoming president Zhang Jindong is trying to speed up the legal process to take control of Inter, which he'll model as an NBA club.
The sale of the club to the Chinese business group Suning was announced on June 6, but the process of replacing the old board of directors is proving pretty slow.
Incoming president Zhang Jindong is trying to speed up the legal process to take control of Inter, which he'll model as an NBA club.
The sale of the club to the Chinese business group Suning was announced on June 6, but the process of replacing the old board of directors is proving pretty slow.
The Gazzetta dello Sport ran a report today in which they clarified that the funds for the purchase of the club still haven't been transferred into Inter's accounts. The payments are due to be settled by June 28, when the board of directors will meet again.
However, current international football regulations forbid Zhang from taking control of the club until October. Current boss Erick Thohir is required to stay until that month as nominal president, because of a norm that legally forces him to take responsibility for Inter's last budget plan.
Although the details are quite complicated, this apparently means that the new Chinese president wouldn't be able to make any move of his own on the summer transfer market.
For this reason, Inter are consulting an international legal firm in an attempt to find a way to assert legally, by July 1, that Thohir is responsible for the club's last budget. This would let the Indonesian move out of operations, allowing the Chinese to step in.
Once he takes control, Zhang has sketched some of his plans for the club to the Chinese site of the Economic Observer.
“Serie A can benefit greatly from the arrival of the Chinese,” he said. “The right path is shown by the NBA and the way they developed their brand with us.”