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FORMER Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has promised his Monza players a "bus full of prostitutes" if they beat AC Milan or Juventus in the coming months.
The 86-year-old, who owned AC Milan between 1986 and 2017, bought Monza in 2018.
And they were promoted to the top tier earlier this year after winning the Serie B play-offs.
They went into the World Cup break in 14th place in Serie A after five wins from their opening 15 matches - rising from rock bottom after they replaced manager Giovanni Stroppa with Raffaele Palladino.
And Monza will return to competitive action against Fiorentina on January 4.
But during the club's official Christmas party on Tuesday, Berlusconi came out with an outlandish statement in a bid to try and motivate his side to beat one of the big Italian clubs.
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He said: "We found a new coach, who was at our youth team, he is good, smart, kind, and able to stimulate [motivate] our lads.
"I decided to add an extra stimulation.
"So I told the lads you will play Milan, Juventus, etc, so if you beat one of these big teams, I will have you greeted in the locker room by a bus full of wh***s."
The incredible statement brought laughter from those in attendance.
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But Daniela Sbrollini, a female senator from the Italia Viva party, labelled the comments "usual misogynist language from Berlusconi: a joke in bad taste that leaves you speechless".
The flamboyant Berlusconi has been prime minister four times in a political career beset by corruption and sex scandals.
He led four governments between 1994 and 2011 - the year that he was forced to resign because of his infamous "bunga-bunga" parties.
The perennially tanned octogenarian was then banned from public office in 2013.
He was also given a seven-year jail term after being found guilty of paying underage prostitute Karima El Mahroug for sex and trying to cover it up.
During his trial, there were reports of him holding notorious "bunga-bunga" sex parties.
But in 2014, his conviction was overturned, after he won an appeal.