City Football Group CEO Ferran Soriano and Pep Guardiola are traveling to Brazil next week for a series of business and sporting engagements, including a visit to Esporte Clube Bahia.
The trip marks Guardiola’s first visit to the country, Máquina do Esporte reported.
The duo will first appear in São Paulo for the ninth edition of the Experience Club’s “Jantar do Ano.” Soriano is scheduled to deliver a keynote address to 600 attendees, including CEOs, board presidents, and corporate leadership from some of the nation’s largest companies, at the Vibra São Paulo venue.
An executive from the football industry is attending the event for the first time. In previous editions, the event stage hosted figures such as Harvard professor and best-selling author Michael Sandel, Nobel Prize in Economics laureate Paul Krugman, and British entrepreneur Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group.
“The Jantar do Ano is the moment in which we combine the conclusions about the year that has passed with the forecasts and ideas for the year to come,” Ricardo Natale, founder and CEO of the Experience Club, told Máquina do Esporte. “It is a space for inspiring ideas, powerful connections, and cutting-edge knowledge.”
Soriano’s presentation will focus on the development of global business ecosystems, the investment strategy of the City Football Group, and the application of high-performance football management to corporate leadership. While Guardiola is expected to attend the dinner, he is not scheduled to speak.
Following the events in São Paulo, Soriano and Guardiola are set to travel to Salvador to engage with Bahia. The visit serves as an opportunity for the City Football Group leadership to inspect the club’s facilities, including the training center, the club headquarters, and the Arena Fonte Nova.
The trip includes attendance at the Campeonato Brasileiro match between Bahia and Coritiba on November 21. This visit facilitates a reunion between Guardiola and Bahia manager Rogério Ceni, who spent time in England observing Guardiola’s operations at Manchester City in January 2025, according to Máquina do Esporte.
This tour arrives as the City Football Group continues to integrate the Salvador-based club into its global multiclub network. Guardiola, who has transitioned into a global ambassador role for the City Football Group, accompanies Soriano during this assessment of the club’s current infrastructure and operational progress.
