MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid is not participating in the agreement the Spanish Women’s Soccer League reached with former NBA player Pau Gasol and other investors.
“This agreement is not consistent with a model for the growth of women’s football, which is based on sustainability, transparency and full autonomy for clubs,” the club said.
Spain’s Liga F announced the beginning of a new era on Monday with the inclusion of Gasol16 Ventures and Fortified Partners as strategic investors in a decision approved by the clubs at an extraordinary general meeting in Madrid.
The organization said the operation, worth 55 million euros ($62.6 million), would run over the next four seasons and called it “the largest private capital investment ever made in the European women’s game.”
Madrid announced that private investors would receive a share (35% to 49%) of the competition’s future commercial revenues until June 2051, and member clubs would receive a total of 40 million euros (about $45.6 million), while a portion of the revenue would be forfeited for 25 years.
Madrid said it would respect the decision of any club that deems it appropriate to take part in the initiative, but added: “Due to the voluntary nature of the agreement, each club’s choice must not result in differential treatment or financial or organizational consequences for players who choose to opt out.”
He also said that he believes that “decisions with economic and governance implications for the next 25 years should take into account not only the clubs currently participating in the competition and benefiting from the resources derived from this operation, but also the clubs that will join Liga F in the future, as they will be bound by the approved model without having been involved in the decision-making or benefiting from the funds initially distributed.”
Madrid added that a quarter of the clubs taking part in the competition had also decided not to join the agreement.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
