BEYOND FOOTBALL: AC MILAN AS AMBASSADORS

A great and historic welcome for the Rossoneri icons in Pristina

Seeing as Kosovan fans cannot travel in Europe without special permission, AC Milan was the mountain that moved to Kosovo. Franco Baresi, Daniele Massaro and the whole of AC Milan were given a sensational welcome by Pristina. Considering the fact that this is a city which is doing everything it can to leave behind a painful past and start over, such a warm welcome only reflects the power and energy of the great sport of football and its values. Hundreds of fans were present to welcome Donnarumma and his teammates to the hotel as well as for Baresi and Massaro’s meet and greet with the European Cup trophy. All moments which extended far beyond football. It's not the first time that AC Milan have happened to act as ambassadors. Pope John Paul II's audience with President Berlusconi and AC Milan is well known, taking place in December 1986 the night before Roma v Milan, as is the side’s meeting with Nelson Mandela in the summer of 1993 when the Rossoneri played the Orlando Pirates on their summer tour.

But, as the away match in Kosovo and all the enthusiasm that surrounded Feronikeli v Milan showed once again, in recent years Milan has often broken down barriers and supported, through their presence, the evolution of a world beyond football. In December 2002, when the Arab world was still to be discovered in football, Milan flew to Qatar from Dortmund, where they had just won a Champions League match, to play a very important friendly. The Rossoneri returned to Italy just before Como v Milan, their next league game on the Sunday afternoon, but the trip was certainly worth it, with the emirate filled with pride from Milan’s short stay. The same happened in the 2008/09 season, when both in October 2008 and in May 2009, Ancelotti's team visited Tirana, located in the heart of an Albania that was undergoing huge changes in those years, to play two sold-out friendly matches. Football is never just football and Milan know that more than anyone.