Financial Times: Qatar Sports Investment interested in Leeds United Stake

https://www.ft.com/content/6e42c740...qNuSw3APfnOVRD9IjBuyDbnIpQEQEptscXuNb3Nz6T9bA

Qatar in talks to buy stake in Leeds United
Qatar is in talks to buy a stake in Leeds United in a deal that would allow the gas-rich Gulf state to enter English football for the first time, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Qatar Sports Investments, a state-backed group which controls France’s Paris Saint-Germain, has been in talks over a deal with Leeds United and its owner Andrea Radrizzani in recent months, these people said. A person familiar with the talks said Qatar was seeking as much as a controlling stake in Leeds United, which plays in the Championship, the second tier of English professional football, and narrowly missed promotion into the Premier League this season. “Qatar Sports Investments will be entering English Football, and Leeds is the club of their choice,” the person said. “Qatar has been looking into the prospects of entering English Football for the past two years.” However, one person close to Leeds United’s leadership said the English club is holding talks with at least six different potential investors, one of which is QSI. This person added that no firm decision has been made as to which party Mr Radrizzani may opt to sell to, but that the Italian entrepreneur’s preference is to sell a minority stake in the club. Qatar is the world’s richest nation in per capta terms and, like other Gulf states, has been increasingly using sport to project its soft power. The small nation controversially won the bid to host the 2022 football World Cup and has invested tens of billions of dollars in sport. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has used its vast wealth to transform Manchester City and Saudi Arabia is investing in sports events as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bold plans to overhaul the conservative kingdom’s economy. Mr Radrizzani has been considering a sale of at least a minority stake for the past few months, but had awaited the outcome of its bid to achieve promotion to the Premier League. Talks have been restarted after Leeds lost at the end of season playoffs to Derby County earlier this month. The failure meant the club missed out on at least £170m in guaranteed payments from the Premier League’s multibillion pound broadcasting rights. Mr Radrizzani declined to comment. “We always look for opportunities and the UK market is definitely top on the list”, said a spokesman for Qatar Sports Investment. By selling a stake, Mr Radrizzani will be able to reduce the risk of his holdings in the football club he acquired two years ago, having spent close to £100m on his investment to date. Last year, he sold a 10 per cent stake in the club to 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team, which is owned by the York family. In public, Mr Radrizzani has expressed frustration over so-called Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules which means the club must raise revenues to acquire players, saying that these restrictions mean the club will need to sell players before next season. Speaking at the FT Business of Football conference in London on Tuesday, Mr Radrizzani said: “We’ll have to run a difficult summer in terms of the transfer market, but we have a great academy.” A person close to the talks said that any money raised in a stake sale would not go towards acquiring players for Leeds United, as that would be in breach of FFP regulations. Instead, Mr Radrizzani will consider using part of the money to buy another European club, a move that would allow him to adopt a model similar to the owners of Watford and Manchester City, which control a network of clubs around the world, with the sister teams sharing resources and loaning players between each other. The network model makes it easier for football club owners to acquire new talent while satisfying FFP. The system could also suit Paris-Saint Germain, which itself is under investigation by Uefa, European football’s governing body, over alleged breaches of FFP related to its world record signings of superstars such as Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. Genoa FC, an Italian Serie A club that is fighting not to be relegated, is currently up for sale and is considered a potential takeover target for Mr Radrizzani, said one person with direct knowledge of the matter.

 

Interest is real according to Phil hay but rads refusing to sell any shares. Terrific. So they’ll have to shop elsewhere

 

Thought I read that Radz has been talking to 5 or 6 investors for a few months now. He stalled it to see if we went up. We haven't. He's skint. So .....

 

I have always found it puzzling why the real money men have never realised the potential of Leeds United. The club is in need of a serious investor and is a sleeping giant waiting for him.

 

Here’s hays comment on it WJ
Been up in Glasgow all day but have asked about this tonight. Interest from Qatar is real but message from Leeds end is that Radrizzani won’t be selling another stake at this stage:

 

They all say that, everything is for sale, just the price that's nogotiable, do you think we could get Naymar on loan.

 

**** the loan system. I want us to buy him

 

He'll be hating everyone tonight after his team got humped.

 

Dives a bit too much for my liking.

 

Oh right. There would be no place in our team for the likes of that

 

Don't want him encouraging Alioski back into his old habits.

 

Neymar? Poor man’s adryan... if we had real ambition we’d go back in for the real thing

 

Leeds united could do with QATAR THE COUNTRY buying out the club to get out of the championship we need funds , HOW CAN IT BE THAT the 3rd biggest city in england cant get a massive investor

 

It is interesting and he could sell them 30% for now and give them first dibs at a fixed price when we reach the promised land. As i understand it the 49ers can buy another 10% this year. Giving them a nice profit when we are bought outright. But then again what the fook do i know.

 

At least we’re attracting interest, when Bates owned us there was supposedly no interest, when Cellino brought us nobody trusted him and we attracted clueless GFH

When you get decent interest you know things behind the scenes are looking good and we’re attracting the right kind of future buyers.

 

Yes and we can go up autos which is my dream and yes i want to win this league.

 

Not so sure that kind of ambition is fashionable anymore wakey

 

No and my flares never came back in either.

 

Hang I hang in there. All fashions make a return sooner or later