A huge and potentially disastrous report about Tottenham Hotspur’s future ownership dropped this afternoon. Levy held so-called “preliminary meetings” with QSI and Qatar Sports Investments, which includes Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, on the possibility of minorities. Investing in football clubs.
Exclusive: Qatar Sports Investments is stepping up its efforts to find another team to invest in minorities this year. They are in active talks with his EPL clubs, including Tottenham. Nasser Al-Khelaifi had a preliminary meeting with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy earlier this week. pic.twitter.com/GWDhpd9eH8
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 8, 2023
The report goes to great lengths to state that this does not mean that anything will come out of that meeting.QSI, which controls PSG shares and has a minority investment in Braga, Portugal, We are exploring other financial opportunities, with particular interest in the Premier League and expansion into South America. The meeting with the Spurs was provisional. QSI is considering a number of potential Premier League clubs for investment, with Liverpool also a possibility as Fenway Sports Group reveals it is open to bid on a possible sale of the Reds. .
It’s not clear what this means. What investments QSI is interested in, what percentage they want, whether the Spurs are open to the idea beyond these preliminary talks, or future controlling ownership of ENIC. QSI wants to make “ambitious” investments in other football clubs in 2023 to create an organization that can compete with Citi Financial Group. It is said that there are This conference is a step towards that ultimate goal.
The news comes against a backdrop of much upset among Tottenham fans in recent weeks, with anger directed squarely at Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. The “ENIC OUT” movement flares up every few years and eventually subsides after a productive transfer window or string of positive results, but this instance seems particularly intense. It would be inappropriate to suggest that the meeting was somehow related to that anxiety (it is virtually certain that it is not), but it is an interesting coincidence nonetheless.
Tottenham have accepted offers for sale and investment in recent years. Over the past decade, we have seen numerous reports of sale negotiations. Who can forget the story of Kane Hui? — and ENIC owner Joe Louis has always viewed Tottenham Hotspur as an investment. The club apparently is worth over £2.3bn and would require a significant amount of change to achieve a minority investment. But we’ve certainly been here before, and nothing comes from past rumors.
But even if you take the position that (like us) all football club owners are bad and immoral to some degree, this feels particularly offensive. The football was spectacular, but the event itself was riddled with harassment of LGBTQIA+ and transgender people, substandard housing for attendees, and numerous allegations of death. largely overshadowed by the number of migrant workers in the construction of stadiums and other infrastructure. This is a preliminary meeting, but despite so much bad press over the past month or so, Qatar’s sports organizations suggest they intend to continue their blatant sportswashing. I’m here.
I repeat that the prior conversation is just that. Negotiations moving forward doesn’t necessarily mean anything. But as we’ve seen many times over the years, including the aborted attempt to form a European Super League, Tottenham Hotspur are a business, and the financial health of the business is more important than general morality. will make a decision in favor of The club also accepts fan criticism and corrects its course as necessary.
I don’t want to get too far ahead at the moment, but much skepticism about how much ‘separation’ there is between QSI and the Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund despite Al Khelaifi’s past assurances There is. Having already seen huge amounts of Gulf State money pouring into Manchester City, PSG and now Newcastle, I vehemently opposed even a few investments in Tottenham. Yes, a minority investment in Tottenham could be a borderline transformational change for the club, but I fear the costs of such an investment in the medium to long term.
Some fans may be fine with another Gulf consortium with close ties to the government of the country investing in the club, as long as that investment leads to more wins and titles. Even so, I am very, very uncomfortable about it.