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Billionaire Sheikhs taking over football clubs has become something of a trend in the world of club football. A variety of clubs, right from Manchester City to Paris Saint Germain (PSG) have had a major upturn in fortunes after they found themselves flush with cash post the takeover from their Middle-Eastern owners. But, its not only the owners, there has also been a huge influx of companies from the region who are now on board as major sponsors of some of the clubs.
We have seen shirt sponsorship deals, training kit sponsorship deals, stadium naming rights being given away and a whole lot more. And we’ve even seen some mind-numbing transfer fees being paid out for players, a lot of it perhaps not possible without a little help from the Middle-East.
Here are six leading organisations from the Arab world who have come in and had a healthy hand in the developments in European football over the past few years.
Emirates
In February 2004, Emirates Airline was announced as the main sponsor for the new Arsenal stadium at Ashburton Grove. A few months later, on October 5, 2004, Emirates Airline signed a 15-year contract with Arsenal estimated at £100 million. As part of the deal, the group secured naming rights to the stadium and a shirt sponsorship deal when the club’s deal with O2 expired at the end of the 2005–06 season.
On November 23, 2012, Arsenal and Emirates officially announced a new deal worth £150 million at the Emirates Stadium. The partnership kept Emirates as the official match and training shirt sponsor for another 5 years and it also granted the Dubai conglomerate the naming rights for Ashburton Grove until 2028.
And their reach doesn’t end there. They also sponsor numerous other European clubs, most notably European giants Real Madrid and AC Milan. The full list of clubs reads something like this – Arsenal Football Club, AC Milan, Paris Saint Germain FC, Hamburg SV, Olympiacos FC and Real Madrid C.F.
The airline signed a mega-shirt sponsorship deal with Real Madrid this season worth $39 million annually for the next five years.
Etihad Airways
Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium
When you have Emirates around, Etihad cannot be far behind. While Emirates belongs to the Dubai emirate and is owned by the Dubai royal family, Etihad belongs to the other major emirate in the UAE – Abu Dhabi. The two families, and their airlines, have had a long-standing rivalry back in the domestic market and they brought the war to English shores as well when Chairman Hamid bin Zayed Al Nahyan took over Manchester City and brought the airline with him.
In May 2009, it was announced that Etihad would be the official sponsor of Manchester City. Part of the deal included the renaming of Manchester City’s stadium to the “Etihad Stadium” (it was earlier called the ‘City of Manchester stadium’). The billions from the owner and the airline eventually propelled them to league glory in the 2011-12 season.
Etihad had also signed a three year sponsorship agreement with Chelsea back in 2007.
Aabar Investments
aabar Investments have come to establish many sporting associations
Aabar Investments PJS is an investment company headquartered in Abu Dhabi with investments around the world. It invests in various sectors including automotive, financial services, aviation, energy, manufacturing & technology and real estate, with many of its investments being made by way of international partnerships and alliances. Its largest stakeholder is the International Petroleum Investment Company, which is wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Aabar started life as a small energy company in 2005, but was transformed after it sold its core assets in early 2008. It has since been taken over by IPIC, a wholly government-owned entity that is chaired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a key member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family and owner of Manchester City.
Aabar is widely seen as a vehicle for Sheikh Mansour to diversify the emirate’s investments. IPIC was used as the vehicle to acquire a $3.5bn investment in Barclays.
Qatar Foundation
A Barcelona home jersey from last season with their sponsors splashed across the front
On December 10, 2010, FC Barcelona announced that they had agreed a shirt sponsorship deal worth close to €170 million with Qatar Sports Investments to place Qatar Foundation’s name on the front of the team’s shirts, ending Barcelona’s tradition of not accepting payment for sponsors displayed on its jersey.
The deal included a clause allowing a switch in sponsor after the first two seasons, so Qatar Airways has since taken over as the main sponsor since July 2013.
In the time, the Catalan giants have splashed the cash on quite a few occasions on the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas and Neymar and not to forget in paying the salary of a certain Lionel Messi. And for a club like Barca, who are reportedly burdened with debt, these deals have been a godsend.
Gulf Air
On July 3, 2008, Gulf Air was announced as the official sponsor of English football club, Queens Park Rangers in a deal worth about £7 million. The club however, parted company with Gulf Air after three years, when it decided not to renew its contract after attaining promotion to the Premier League.
Qatar Investment Authority
Think Zlatan Ibrahimovic, think PSG, think Qatar Investment Authority
For the record, the Qatar Investment Authority was founded in 2005 by the state of Qatar to strengthen the country’s economy by diversifying into new asset classes and investments.
That’s where football comes in.
In 2011, the Qatar Investment Authority became the majority shareholder of French club side Paris Saint-Germain after they bought out a controlling 70% of the shares.
Colony Capital (29%) and Butler Capital Partners (1%) remained on-board the club, but were reduced to nothing but minority shareholders.
The deal in which QIA bought PSG was reportedly worth €50m, which covered an estimated €15-20m in debt and losses of €19m from the 2010–11 season. Post the takeover, PSG went from being straddled with debt to becoming the richest club in France and one of the richest clubs in the world.
Not content with a mere 70% stake, QIA later purchased the remaining 30% as well in 2012 to ensure that they became the sole shareholders of PSG. The club stood at a valuation of €100m post this monstrous takeover.
FACT CHECK: Since QIA’s arrival, PSG has spent a world record €364m for the 2011–2014 period. Try counting the zeros in that!
