CVC in talks with Fifa and Real Madrid over football investment amid continuing rugby takeover
Private equity firm owns stakes in the Gallagher Premiership and Pro14, while a deal for a stake in the Six Nations is believed to be moving closer
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Your support makes all the difference.Private equity giants CVC Capital Partners are reportedly in talks with Fifa over a potential acquistion of the commercial rights to the revamped Club World Cup.
The Club World Cup will expand to become a 24-team competition from 2021, with the first edition to be held in China.
According to a report from the Financial Times, CVC have discussed with Fifa a deal that would see them funding the event, in the process of gaining television rights to matches which could then be sold to broadcasters worldwide.
The report also suggests that CVC, along with other corporate groups, have been separately contacted by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez about creating a new club competition.
This would rival the Club World Cup, and one proposal already reportedly discussed is a 40-team competition split across two leagues.
Eight of those teams could include the founding members of the World Football Club Association (WFCA) – a body presided over by Perez.
The founding WFCA clubs are Real Madrid (Spain), AC Milan (Italy), Auckland City (New Zealand), Boca Juniors (Argentina), River Plate (Argentina), America (Mexico), Guangzhou (China) and Mazembe (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
This would not be CVC’s first foray into sport.
The company owned Formula One between 2006 and 2017, and have expressed interest in MotoGP previously.
They are presently providing heavy investment in rugby union, buying a minority stake in the Gallagher Premiership for £200m last year and agreeing a deal in principle for a stake in the Pro14 for a fee understood to be in the region of £120m.
The Six Nations are also in “an exclusive period of negotiation” with CVC to sell a stake in the championship.
CVC and FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Real Madrid was not immediately available for comment.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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