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Abu Dhabi: Inter Milan Managing Director and CEO Dr. Ernesto Paolillo hailed the English Premiership as the best football league in the world and said 'in my view English teams are the benchmark.'
Speaking to the media after announcing Inter's support for an academy in the capital, Paolillo said, "At the moment the Premiership is the best and I am not saying this because two of their clubs are in the Champions League final."
"They not only have the best players but they have the best managed teams and are very clever in merchandising," the Inter boss said.
"A club's success is reflected in its balance sheets. You not only need to play good football but must manage it as a company. The British Clubs as well as those in Spain and France have very professional managements while in Italy we are still way behind. To me the English clubs are the benchmark. They are cleverly managed and have good stadiums to attract the crowds."
Paolillo picked Manchester United to win the Champions League against arch rivals Chelsea. "My personal choice is Man U as they look to be much more complete and have players who have the experience of playing such big games," he said.
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The Inter chief also went down memory lane after signing a three-year deal for the academy. "Thirty years ago I was a young banker and inaugurated the first ever Italian bank (then called Commercial Bank of Italy) here in Abu Dhabi. Here I am today as Inter Milan chief and am part of the first academy," he said.
"It was already a nice country 30 years back. Now it is a great, great country. Lots of investments, nice buildings, the UAE is a beautiful country now," he said.
Inter Milan have won the Serie A 15 times including twice in the last two seasons and are looking to complete their third consecutive win. "We are six points ahead and play AC Milan in a derby on May 4. Hopefully we can wrap it up though we have three more matches after that," he said.
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