Alberto Aceves
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, October 4, 2023, p. a12
In Gulf and North African countries, investment groups focus their appetite on managing future resources through football. There is no sport in the world that offers the same results. In order to strengthen ties and attract that economic power, the commissioner of the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), Juan Carlos Rodríguez, met with five ambassadors from said region in an unprecedented event for Mexican football.
Among the guests were the emissaries of the United Arab Emirates, Ahmed Almenhali; from the kingdom of Morocco, Abdelfattah Lebbar; of Saudi Arabia, Haytham Al Malki, as well as the chargé d’affaires of the state of Qatar, Hamad Al Malik. During the meeting, the progress of the Liga Mx and Liga Mx Femenil in terms of income and their interest in exploring new investment opportunities for the sports development of the clubs were presented.
Millionaire resources
In the last World Cup, after changing their contemptuous view towards sport, the Arab sheikhs created a football amusement park in Qatar. With million-dollar resources, they began to meddle in issues that until then they had endured with a wrinkled nose: the rules of the game, the shouts of goals from multitudinous fans and the signing of players. Little by little they entered the clubs until they took control of them as owners.
Their funds forced the laws of the transfer market in the world to be modified. We had to forget about authentic idols and inappropriate feelings for the club’s colors. The indignation of organizations like UEFA was immediate, but the jewel in the crown for the Arabs was seeing each of their teams among the most powerful on the continent.
From the champion Manchester City, with investors from the United Arab Emirates, to Paris Saint-Germain, owned by the Sovereign Investment Fund and the Qatar National Bank. All of this sparked the interest of the Mexican federations to open a new door to partners with large capital, seeking convergence in sports matters.
In this sense, the Mexican ambassador for Africa, José Octavio Tripp, highlighted the relevance of the visit and expressed his willingness to continue collaborating for the development of local tournaments, like the rest of his colleagues.
2023-10-04 08:35:07
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