About

Football Club Internazionale Milano is globally renowned as having one of the world’s most successful football teams with the following accolades under their belt; 18 Italian league titles, seven Coppa Italias, five Italian Super Cups, three UEFA Cups, two European Cups, one UEFA Champions League, two Intercontinental Cups, and a FIFA Club World Cup. The Club is advised by distinguished head of legal Federica Celoria, who nominators call a ‘skilled and competent lawyer’ and who oversees all legal matters of the Italian club. Although she has been at Internazionale for just a year and a half, she has already gained a strong reputation for being a trusted advisor for the company and an active partner in its critical decision making processes, and is seen as an essential part to all recent transactions taken on by the club. Celoria explains her involvement in the issuing of a €300m company bond at the end of 2017: ‘This was the first bond issued by an Italian football club on the international capital market, aimed at various types of institutional investors of global scope’. Celoria and her team worked alongside the CFO and the CEO, with the help of external consultants to overcome and act as the reference point on the documental part of this project, as well as give strategic support. Above everything, Celoria is highly praised for her stand-out management and leadership skills, she is described as someone who is ‘extremely quick in understanding and has great managerial capabilities’, and another nominator adds that Celoria ‘inspires people’s trust and has gained great experience in managing complex situations’. She is complimented for her ability to coach team members effectively with ‘clarity and compassion’ by ultimately focusing on their strengths and recognising them for the work they do, acting as a central part to their professional growth. Celoria previously served as the first general counsel for Yahoo! Italia, a role she held with vigour for nine years: ‘As Yahoo Italy’s first general counsel, she helped establish our business in that country. The professionalism, dedication and entrepreneurial spirit she showed at that time proved to be hallmarks of her performance since’ said a nominating source. Between April 2002 and February 2006, Celoria served as the senior manager business and legal affairs for The Walt Disney Company Italia. This proved to be yet another professionally pivotal role for her as she says it not only combined the ‘legal technical activity with the business of the company’ that she was looking for but was also an experience that pointedly brought her on the in-house path. She highlights ‘the experience at The Walt Disney Company Italia which was the first American multinational company I joined. As soon as I started to work in this environment I immediately realised that the role of the in-house counsel was my future’ says Celoria.