the UEFA Quarterfinals Europa League 2020-2021 they start this Thursday and will do so with a peculiarity that, although it will not have to do directly with what happens on the court, is a vital part for the operation of the clubs and the training of their youth.
These are the companies that are behind the eight teams that came to this instance, as five of them are foreign, three of the United States and two more of China, Two of the nations that in recent years have invested money in sports institutions outside their borders.
United States, England and Italy
Manchester United: Between 2003 and 2005 the American businessman, Malcolm Irving Glazer took over the total shares of the Red Devils, paying more than one thousand 160 million dollars. Glazer died in 2014, but his family is still in charge of the English painting, in addition to which they also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, The recent Champions of the Super Bowl 2021.
Arsenal: The Gunners are owned by Denver, Colorado-based Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. Its owner is the employer Stan Kroeken, who in addition to the London picture, is a majority shareholder of the NFL Rams Angels, MLS Colorado Rapids, NBA Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL.
Rome: Dan Friedkin, originally from San Diego, California, owns the company Friedkin Group which has owned the Italian painting since 2020. In addition to being a filmmaker and owner of a film and entertainment production company, Dan Friedkin is CEO of one of Toyota’s largest car dealerships.
China, Spain and the Czech Republic
Granada CF.: The Spanish board has belonged since 2009 to the company Daxian 2009 SL, founded in Spain, but in 2016 this firm passed into the hands of the Chinese businessman Jian Lizhang, who also invested to acquire the majority of the shares of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA and the Parma club of Italian football.
Slavia Prague: In 2015 the Chinese company CEFC China Energy landed in the Czech Republic, and among the investments it made, it acquired 60 percent of the shares of the Czech team. Three years later, in 2018 it was announced that another Chinese company, Sinobo was the new majority shareholder the club which, along with Manchester, are the only ones to have won this competition.
The three clubs that are in the Quarterfinals and are behind local investment are the Villarreal of Spain, Ajax of Holland and Dinamo Zagreb, who is currently in managerial trouble, as its president Zoran Mamic, was accused of embezzlement and corruption just on March 15.