UEFA warns of risks of several clubs with the same owner – 02/15/2023 – Sport

The growing appetite of football team owners to hold stakes in multiple clubs threatens to undermine the integrity of the sport and distort the transfer market, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has warned.

Multi-club ownership takes many forms, but it usually involves investors buying a stake in at least two football clubs. In some cases it is outright ownership, but in others it may involve controlling one club and participating in others.

At the end of last year, more than 180 teams worldwide were part of a multi-club group, up from less than 40 in 2012, according to UEFA, the Swiss-based body that organizes football in Europe.

The trend is “mainly being fueled by US investors”, UEFA said in its “European Club Footballing Landscape” report, published this week.

“Increased investment in multiple clubs has the potential to pose a material threat to the integrity of European club competition, with an increasing risk of two clubs with the same owner or investor facing each other on the pitch,” UEFA said.

Variations of this model have been implemented in all leagues. Eagle Football Holdings, owned by American businessman John Textor, which acquired French Lyon in December for 800 million euros (R$ 4.46 billion, at current exchange rates), also owns Botafogo, Molenbeek, in the second division Belgium, and 40% of Crystal Palace, of the English first division.

777 Partners, based in Miami, in turn, owns the Italian Genoa, the Belgian Standard Liège, the French Red Star Paris and the Vasco da Gama. It also has minority stakes in teams like the Spanish Sevilla.

Proponents of the model say it reduces financial risk, as the ultimate owner can survive even if one of the clubs in the group suffers poor results or is relegated from a division. However, the model generated protests from fans.

While groups are normally prohibited from owning significant stakes in more than one club in the same country, they can invest in different leagues.

The Uefa report also warned that the growing prevalence of the multi-club model “has the potential to distort” the player transfer market, because “an increasing percentage of transfers are executed within multi-club investment groups at prices suitable to investors, rather than fair values”.

“Most movement of players within multi-club investment pools is via ‘free transfers’ or loans, meaning no fees are paid,” he added.

“With the growth of cross-investment structures, some football investors can now exercise control over clubs comprising a cumulative total of a few hundred registered players. The Uefa Intelligence Center estimates that over 6,500 players worldwide are registered in clubs belonging to a cross-investment structure”, concluded the report.