Who is Mino Raiola?

On Thursday,
the football world was shocked by revelations from Italy that Mino Raiola had died at the age of 54. However, it later came to light that these
claims were untrue, with Mino himself and his doctor being ‘outraged’ by rumors
of his death. Mino Raiola has declared himself “p***ed off” following media reports about his death, although the famed football agent is severely unwell in
hospital.

The super-agent
wrote on Twitter: “Current health status for the ones wondering: p****d off
second time in 4 months they kill me. Seem also able to ressuscitate [sic].”

Dr Alberto Zangrillo, head of the anesthesia and intensive care
unit of San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, said: “I am outraged by the phone calls
from pseudo journalists who speculate on the life of a man who is fighting.”

Also read: ‘Pissed off’ Mino Raiola tweets from hospital denying reports of death

Another insider verified that he is
‘very very ill.’ Real Madrid expressed their condolences to Raiola’s family
before quickly removing the tweet when Italian news channel TgLa7 announced his
death.

Mario Balotelli, Raiola’s client,
lashed out at the Italian media sources that broke the news of his death: ‘You
need to be first huh? Shame on you and seriously be ashamed of your education,
respect, values and responsibilities! #staystrongmino.’ 

Also read: Mino Raiola, agent of Erling Haaland, Paul Pogba, reportedly dead at 54

Raiola represents players such as Paul
Pogba, Erling Haaland, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Raiola was admitted to a
hospital in Milan in January and underwent delicate surgery, but the cause of
the ailment was not disclosed. According to reports, Raiola’s condition was not
life-threatening at the time, and he would have begun a period of
rehabilitation at home – but he is now back in critical care.

Carmine “Mino” Raiola
was on born 4 November 1967, and is an Italian football agent known for
having represented several well-known players. A year after his birth, he and his parents
relocated to Haarlem, Netherlands. Raiola spent his childhood in the
Netherlands helping his father run a successful restaurant, where he worked as
a server.

Raiola returned to the football world
after a brief stint as a player and administrator, this time as a football
agent. He began his career as a sports agent with Sports Promotions, where he
assisted in the transfers of several high-profile Dutch players to Italian
clubs.

Soon afterwards, he decided to leave the company and start his own business. Raiola helped Pavel Nedved’s transfer to Lazio from Sparta Prague following an outstanding performance for the Czech Republic at UEFA Euro 1996, where Nedved’s Czech Republic reached the final.

Raiola represented around 20 players competing in European leagues. He is a resident of Monaco. In 2008, he was involved in two disciplinary proceedings for transfer irregularities initiated by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) as part of a larger probe of professional football by Italian authorities.

It is also said that the agent made an estimated €25 million from Paul Pogba’s €105 million sale to Manchester United in August 2016. Moreover, Raiola was barred from functioning as an agent representative for three months by the Italian Football Federation on May 8, 2019, for unspecified reasons, while his cousin Vincenzo Raiola was barred for two months. The suspensions were extended globally on May 10 when the FIFA Disciplinary Committee accepted the Italian federation’s rulings. Raiola and his cousin won their appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal in Italy on June 13, 2019, which resulted in the three-month ban being lifted.