Football: delay with league money irritates clubs – 06/13/2023 – Panel SA

The LFF (Liga Forte Futebol) is running against time to make an advance of BRL 375 million available to partner clubs and reduce internal dissatisfaction, created after a series of financial promises that did not materialize due to bureaucratic problems.

The situation has already become a joke among top hats, who call the LFF Liga do Faz Fiado and threaten to migrate to Libra if the money does not come out soon.

At the end of May, Forte Futebol announced that XP would advance the amounts. She advises on the sale of the league to the US fund Serengeti Asset Management and LCP (Life Capital Partners).

This was a way of maintaining the attraction of the clubs against their flirtation with Mubadala, a powerful fund in the United Arab Emirates that is negotiating the purchase of the rights of Libra (Brazilian Football League), a rival of the LFF.

Both compete for a slice of the clubs’ broadcasting rights from 2025, the year in which TV Globo ceases to have the exclusivity of the Brazilian Championship.

The deal could move almost BRL 5 billion if one of the two leagues manages to attract the 40 teams from the A and B series. If this does not happen, the offer drops to less than half.

According to those involved in the process, the R$ 375 million advance agreement for XP was already negotiated with the 26 LFF clubs and should be released later this month.

Marcelo Paz, president of Fortaleza and member of the LFF, denies the impasse regarding payments and says that Forte Futebol continues to seek an understanding between the clubs.

“What was always discussed within the LFF is that the clubs would receive the advance money after signing the documents, which is about to happen soon. We are very close to the agreement and the amount to be advanced by XP”, said the top hat.

What delays the process, according to people who participated in the negotiations for the LFF, is the regularization of all the documentation that involves the transfer of the league’s rights to Serengeti –already in the final phase–, in addition to the approval of the deal by the clubs’ boards.

Currently, 26 teams are part of Forte Futebol, including Atlético Mineiro, Athletico Paranaense, Fluminense and Internacional. In Libra, which has 18 clubs, there are medallions such as Corinthians, Flamengo, São Paulo and Palmeiras.

Sought, XP declined to comment.

With Diego Felix

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