Milan have officially announced forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ recovery from coronavirus.
The Swede, who tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the third qualifying round of the Europa League against Bodo/Glimt, revealed he is negative.
Ibrahimovic himself announced the good news for the Rossoneri, who are preparing to face Inter on October 17 for this season’s first Derby della Madonnina. “You recovered,” the Swede wrote on Twitter. “Health authorities have been informed, the quarantine is over. “You can go out!”
Milan later officially announced the 38-year-old has finished his quarantine period. “AC Milan announce that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has tested negative in two consecutive swab tests,” the club wrote in a statement. “ATS have been informed of the recovery and confirms the end of the quarantine.”
The news on Ibrahimovic sweetened the day for the Italian club on the day the financial results published showed the club reporting a record 195 million loss.
The novel coronavirus crisis pushed Italian top-flight soccer club AC Milan further into the red in the financial year through June, resulting in a record 195 million euro ($230 mln) loss for the outfit owned by U.S. investment fund Elliott.
Like other European soccer clubs, the seven-times European Champions are grappling with plummeting revenues due to closed-door matches to stem the spread of the virus and rebates on pay-TV deals sought by broadcasters.
The head of Italy’s top-flight league warned earlier this month that the industry was on the brink of collapse, saying Serie A had lost more than 500 million euros in revenue due to the virus.
Milan had reported a 146 million euro loss during the previous financial year.
Net of one-off items, the financial results would had shown a significant improvement, Milan said in a note, adding that the club and their owner remained confident they were moving in the right direction to revive the club’s fortunes.
Milan are currently level on points with Atalanta at the top of Serie A after finishing sixth last season, when they suffered a one-year ban from European competition for breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Under FFP, clubs are barred from spending more than the revenue they generate themselves with the regulations designed to stop rich club owners from buying success.
