Milan man

Maldini signs new contract until 2005, takes pay cut

MILAN (Reuters) -- AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini has signed to stay with the Serie A club until June 2005, when he will turn 37, and has taken a 30 percent pay cut in his new contract.

"I've accepted to take a pay cut. I agreed to the club's request because it is going through a particular period," Maldini said.

Italian football has been engulfed in a cash crunch, with several top-flight clubs facing severe financial problems. "I'm delighted to have extended my contract, I couldn't have hoped for a better future," the player told AC Milan's television channel.

Asked about his age, Maldini said: "I still feel good and I think I can play for two more great years."

"When I signed the contract with (Milan vice-president) Adriano Galliani, we decided to go until 2005 but he means to further extend it because he considers me a young guy. It was me that said 2005 as an expiry date, but later we'll see..."

Veteran defender Maldini, who has played for Milan since 1985, last month broke the Italian record for appearances in European competitions after playing his 118th match in a UEFA club competition. The 35-year-old had played a full 90 minutes in all but five of those matches.

He has played 501 matches in the Italian championship, winning the scudetto six times.

AC Milan is owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the country's richest man, but it has not been spared the money problems that have blighted Italian clubs.

Milan's Leonardo announces retirement

ROME (AP)-- AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Leonardo said Tuesday he is retiring from play but will remain with the club in an administrative role.

The 33-year-old Leonardo made two appearances for the team this season after returning to play for the squad in October.

"My decision is definite," Leonardo told a news conference at the team's headquarters in Milan. "I have chosen to stop my soccer career before the end of the season because I have so many things to look after apart from playing that it becomes impossible to combine training with all the other engagements."

Club vice president Adriano Galliani said Leonardo would take over as his assistant and be in in charge of a charity organization set up by the team in February.

Leonardo played for Milan from 1997 to 2001, helping them win the Italian league title in 1999. After playing a year in Brazil, he returned to AC Milan.

Born in a Rio de Janeiro suburb, Leonardo Nascimento de Araujo began his playing career with Brazilian club Flamengo. He debuted for the national squad in 1989 and was a member of their 1994 World Cup winning team. He has also played in France, Spain and for the Japanese side Kashima Antlers.

 

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Both the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.