Rome - Serie A giants Juventus are to name a new president later this month as Giovanni Cobolli Gigli is set to step down after three years. Italian media Wednesday quoted John Elkann, the president of Juve's controlling holding Exor, as saying that "Jean-Claude Blanc will be named president.
"I'm grateful to Giovanni Cobolli Gigli for these three years, which have been three hard years. And it's also thanks to him that Blanc can now take on the new post."
Blanc, 43, is to retain the position of general director of the Turin club, which he took in June 2006.
The Frenchman is an accomplished sports manager with experiences at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, the Tour de France and the French Open tennis tournament.
Cobolli Gigli, 64, became president in the wake of a match-rigging scandal that in 2006 culminated with the relegation of Juventus to the Serie B and the stripping of their last two Serie A titles.
More relevant changes have been rumoured about struggling giants AC Milan, who for the past 23 years have been owned by Italy's current Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Albanian oil entrepreneur Rezart Taci this week told Italian media that although he doesn't believe that Berlusconi wants to sell Milan, "we'd be very interested in buying it."
Taci, 38, owns Albania's first-division club Gramozi Erseke and earlier this year was rumoured as possible new owner of Serie A minnows Bologna.
On Wednesday, the finance and communication holding Fininvest, which controls Milan, denied "in the firmest and most absolute way, that there is any hypothesis of sale, even partial, of shares of Milan."
Fininvest was founded in the 1970s by Berlusconi. His daughter Marina is the current president.
