|
| A major Sheikh-up |
| Aabhas Sharma / New Delhi Jul 26, 2009, 00:48 IST |
|
West Asia consortia are slowly making their presence felt in English football, with Manchester City leading the way.
You know that there is a shift in balance of power when the oldest football club in the world gets taken over by some multimillionaire sheikh. The takeover of Nottingham County by Munto Finance, a West Asia-based company, reiterates the fact that consortia from Gulf are serious about taking over English football.
It all started in September 2008, when Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) took over Manchester City by shelling out close to 100 million pounds. What that did was to turn City into the richest club in world football, overnight. Manchester City are not in the same league as their cross-town rivals Manchester United, or the other members of the big four in England — Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal — but the influx of money made sure that they could turn any player’s head by offering him a huge salary.
Portsmouth is another club which was taken over, by an Arab businessman named Suleiman al-Fahim earlier this week. There has been talk of another consortium planning to take over Everton, while Liverpool Football Club too have been courted by Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) in the last couple of years.
The takeover phenomenon in English football started when Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2004. Since then, Manchester United has been taken over by American billionaire Malcolm Glazer, Liverpool by two Americans. Aston Villa followed suit.
The English Premiership is far and away the richest football league in the world, and one of the richest sporting leagues on the planet. But it is unclear just what kind of returns the United Arab Emirates consortia which have acquired, or are looking to acquire, UK football clubs are looking at.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has already expressed unhappiness on numerous occasions about the takeovers in English football. “Something is wrong here and I don’t have a remedy,” Blatter was quoted saying on these takeovers. Blatter has a point. These clubs, especially ones like City who don’t have global appeal and a mass fan base, are sitting on a ticking time bomb. City have already spent close to $200 million on buying new players.
Similarly, Portsmouth, the FA Cup winners in 2008, do not attract global appeal, unlike, say, a Liverpool or Real Madrid. One of the financial consultants involved in such a takeover says that all is not as great as it looks, especially in the case of Manchester City. “Most of these clubs appreciate substantially, but it all goes down to performance on the field. You can plough in as much money, but if you don’t perform and don’t regularly make the top four it will be tough,” he says.
Nottingham County, who are in the second tier of English football, have already appointed former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football. With big bucks in the bank, they too will be looking at a swift return to the Premiership.
The club which remains the biggest talking point, however, is Manchester City. Sheikh Mansour, one of the richest men in West Asia, says that he wants to make the club one of the biggest in the world. In a recent interview he was quoted as saying, “We are competitors. We are here to win and to build a club that will be in a position to win trophies”, before adding, “That said, we know that will take time, and this is where a patient and pragmatic approach will be essential.”
So far, City have adopted a scattershot approach, offering mega-bucks to footballers and insane transfer fees to clubs to attract big names. They offered 107 million pounds to AC Milan for Brazilian superstar Kaka. The club accepted the bid, but the player rejected the offer and opted for Real Madrid. To be fair, City have signed big names like Robinho and Carlos Tevez, and are now keen on signing England captain John Terry from Chelsea. However, that remains unlikely.
If Sheikh Mansour gets his way and turns City into a club capable of winning trophies, then the interest in EPL from West Asia will grow even more. Liverpool owners have thrice rejected a bid from DIC and, if reports are to be believed, they might eventually sell. The Arabs have set their sights on the richest league in the world. As things stand, they look set to increase their presence in English football.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
