Business and football are intimately linked. In fact, they always have been. However, today the stakes are higher and the opportunities more rewarding, not necessarily for profit but for networking that can facilitate business transactions.
Business and football are intimately linked. In fact, they always have been. However, today the stakes are higher and the opportunities more rewarding, not necessarily for profit but for networking that can facilitate business transactions.
This even applies to Spanish clubs where the president is elected. Fans realise that a successful businessman with good connections can use his skills to advance the club. The other side of the coin is that the football club can be used as a cover for activities that are controversial. In some countries there are links between football and criminal organisations, a subject to be covered in a future article.
The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, is one of Spain’s most successful businessmen. He also has a reputation for using creeping takeover tactics to expand his heavily indebted construction company, ACS. The company built up a debt of €8.8bn during Spain’s decade long construction company.
ACS is an 18 per cent investor in the Spanish utility company, Iberdola, and has been seeking a seat on its board. Iberdola has been arguing that this would be anti-competitive, but underlying the dispute is a strong rivalry between Perez and Ignacio Galan, the man behind Iberdola.
Mr Perez is not seen much in public except at the Bernabéu stadium. In the presidential enclosure he hosts international business figures and Gulf royalty. What better place to conclude a deal than after watching Los Blancos?