Inter President Erick Thohir maintains he accomplished his mission and “now it’s up to Suning,” but regrets the stadium situation.
The Indonesian businessman bought the club from Massimo Moratti in November 2013, selling to Chinese conglomerate Suning Commerce Group in June 2016.
Although Thohir is technically still the President and owns 31 per cent of the club’s shares, he does not seem to make decisions or have influence over strategy.
He also rarely speaks to the media, but has now given an interview with Lapresse.
Inter President Erick Thohir maintains he accomplished his mission and “now it’s up to Suning,” but regrets the stadium situation.
The Indonesian businessman bought the club from Massimo Moratti in November 2013, selling to Chinese conglomerate Suning Commerce Group in June 2016.
Although Thohir is technically still the President and owns 31 per cent of the club’s shares, he does not seem to make decisions or have influence over strategy.
He also rarely speaks to the media, but has now given an interview with Lapresse.
“If you go into my office, you’ll see only Inter shirts on the wall, starting from Bergomi and Zanetti. There are also some of my NBA team Philadelphia,” said Thohir.
“However, business is business. When I bought the club from Moratti, I never lied to anyone. I never promised the Scudetto straight away. At a certain stage, I had to protect myself.
“When I arrived, I set five objectives. The first was to build an infrastructure up to the task, from a training ground to San Siro.
“The second was to reorganise their management, which is why I hired Michael Bolingbroke from Manchester United and Antonello from Puma.
“The third was to slowly build a strong team and then eventually purchase stars. The fourth was to respect Financial Fair Play, which was not easy, and the fifth to enter the Europa League, aiming for the Champions League within five years.
“Unfortunately, we could not build the stadium. It would’ve generated business, increased revenue and allow us to stay on a par with the biggest clubs in Europe. Just look at Juventus, who could afford Cristiano Ronaldo because they have a stadium…
“In any case, it seems to me that Suning have the same objective of building a new stadium. My strategy was transparent and I never hid anything. There are steps you must go through to create a healthy and competitive club, without debts.
“I didn’t spend much time in Italy because my business interests are in Indonesia. That is why I brought in such strong management that I could trust.
“I sold to Suning because they offered to become majority shareholders with big objectives. As I said, I protected myself. I remained as President, have 31 per cent of the shares and still have my season ticket in the stands. Now it’s up to Suning.”