“Rift Deepens: Ibrahimovic’s Controversial Moves Spark Conflict with AC Milan’s Ownership”
According to La Repubblica, tensions are escalating between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and AC Milan’s owners, RedBird, partly due to a homophobic joke involving YouTube star IShowSpeed.
The newspaper reports that the relationship between Milan and Ibrahimovic is strained, with club owners becoming increasingly frustrated with the former striker’s behavior. The tension reportedly began a few weeks ago when Ibrahimovic participated in a juvenile and homophobic prank with IShowSpeed called “First one to move is gay.”
This incident reportedly upset the leadership at RedBird and Elliott, though it is not the only source of discontent. Ibrahimovic is also said to have taken revenge on his former teammate, Ignazio Abate, after Abate did not grant his son Maximilian a debut in the Primavera team last season. After Abate left the club to coach Ternana in Serie C, Ibrahimovic allegedly demoted Abate’s father, Beniamino, a goalkeeper coach, from the Primavera to the Women’s team before firing him without notice.
Additionally, despite Maximilian signing a contract extension with Milan earlier in March, young Milan talent Francesco Camarda recently liked an Instagram post that accused Ibrahimovic of lacking experience for his role.
Another source of tension is Ibrahimovic’s frequent presence at the Vismara training center to watch his younger son, Vincent, rather than spending time with Milan’s first team at Milanello. Finally, fans criticized Ibrahimovic for being on holiday during Milan’s 2-2 draw against Lazio, where players Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao stirred controversy by ignoring a second-half cooling break.
Although Ibrahimovic is no longer formally part of the Milan squad, he was appointed as an advisor to RedBird in December 2023.