AC Milan’s Former Sporting Director Igli Tare Under Investigation for Fraud Linked to Albanian Bribery Scheme

Albanian football executive Igli Tare, who served as AC Milan’s sporting director until recently, is facing serious legal scrutiny in his home country, according to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport. The 52-year-old is reportedly under official investigation by special prosecutors in Albania over alleged links to a high-profile corruption and money laundering case.

At the centre of the investigation is a luxury villa situated on the Ionian coast within a prominent Albanian tourist complex. Authorities suspect the property was used as a bribe offered to former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku in exchange for a lucrative state air traffic contract. According to reports, investigators believe Tare’s name was used to register the villa through a fictitious rental agreement — a mechanism allegedly designed to conceal the true ownership and insulate the politician from legal exposure.

Tare was reportedly subjected to a six-hour interrogation at the prosecutor’s office. He left the premises without making any statement to the media gathered outside.

The allegations emerge in the wake of a turbulent period for Tare at club level. He joined AC Milan as sporting director in May 2025, following a long association with Lazio, but his tenure at the San Siro proved short-lived. During his first transfer window with the Rossoneri, Tare oversaw significant squad restructuring, including the loan-to-buy arrangement that sent Nigerian international winger Samuel Chukwueze to English Premier League club Fulham.

Chukwueze, a key figure in the Super Eagles setup, had joined AC Milan in 2023 from Villarreal for a reported fee in the region of €20 million. His departure to Fulham marked one of several notable exits engineered under Tare’s brief watch at the club. Both Tare and the broader AC Milan hierarchy subsequently left the club following the failure to secure top-tier European transfer targets.

For Tare, whose playing career included 11 caps for the Albanian national team as a striker, the transition from the transfer market to the courtroom represents a sharp change in circumstances. The investigation is being handled by Albania’s special prosecution structures, which typically deal with high-level corruption cases.

The legal proceedings are ongoing, and no charges have been formally confirmed at this stage. With the investigation reportedly still expanding, Tare’s immediate future looks likely to be shaped significantly by developments in the Albanian judicial process rather than football boardrooms.