The football of today has become something much more than a man’s love for the leather ball and the beautiful game. You have probably asked the question yourself at some point; What has football really become? Is it but another way for the powerful to control the masses? The circus to complement the bread?
The sale of Valencia has reached a new stage after Bankia and the club solved most of their differences and agreed to a document describing how the sale committee will receive and evaluate the binding offers expected in the current phase. Once again we are back to situation where it seems the peace has finally settled around the sale, especially since Salvo has let his last card slip through making the necessary documentation available in the so called “data room” accessible for the potential buyers.
The Valencia “data room” was opened to the buyers last week, and the first two were given access. The new timeline gives the potentials some four weeks to provide their offers after reviewing the numbers in the data room, where Valencia will upload any data required but no more. The 31st of March at 4pm no more offers will be received. After that, the committee will spend about three weeks reviewing the offers before making a recommendation to the Fundación council. Then, the winning bid will have to achieve a 2/3 majority vote. After that approval from the general assembly will be asked, a pure formality since the previous controls 70% of the shares. This all means that a takeover is highly unlikely to happen until mid May at the earliest.
The reports of bids the size of debt added investment in players have caused Valencia fans to dream of a future of beauty, but might yet again face the beast. One might then hope the political battles witnessed so far had reached their end. They have not. Not at all.
While everyone (myself included) talk about offers, that is not really the case. The actual offers for the club is not likely to arrive until the last minute before the deadline. As I wrote in the previous phase, new information can appear at any point, and a offer made before it has to only increases risk of counter parts having more information than you did when they submit their offers. Albeit that two offers passed Bankia’s filter in the first phase and already have access to the data room, but that does not mean they have made formal bids. Up until the deadline you can expect more rumours, more local names being connected with claimed bids and rumours, lots of rumours. The question is what will happen when these local names start fighting to be the one chosen for a presidential or football director role….?
With a new process to receive offers rumours have yet again begun searing out of Valencia, where bids are reported to come from the US, Russia, UK, Arabia, Red Bull and ISG. These are at best speculation, and should not be mistaken for truth. What seems to be certain is that Peter Lim has told Salvo he is out and that the Arab bid, rumoured since the start of the sale process, is regarded the main contender to be the last man standing after the dust settles. And here we come to the issue of the political battle. Some have realized that after deciding the buyer, there is something even more important; controlling the buyer.
Valencia is a heavily politicized community where the ruling Partido Popular politicians seem to have a hand in most of what happens of bigger events. The smartest buyers will have realized that having these on their side will prove a very beneficial advantage in order to win the bid. The recipe followed by the authorities for years is that of having a politically connected president and someone the public likes to form part of the leadership.
The Arab bid has understood this and seem to have connections to long time Valencia president wannabe Alfonso Rus and fan hero Amadeo Carboni. For Rus it is maybe the last chance to fulfil his dream. For Generalitat Valenciana it is the opportunity to secure a confidant in the leadership and investments in the region as well as the club (another caramel for the politicians). For Carboni it is his opportunity to redeem himself after the QSF debacle, and to work with football again. However, the Arab bid does not seem to be Alfonso Rus’ only horse in the race. He will fight for his glory. He wants this.
For those that hoped the club will finally break their political shackles, it seems they are in for disappointment. Maybe it was naive to even hope for it. Maybe the winner of the sale process is already decided. The question left to us fans is; will it ever change? Will we ever have the beauty without the beast?
The sale of Valencia has reached a new stage after Bankia and the club solved most of their differences and agreed to a document describing how the sale committee will receive and evaluate the binding offers expected in the current phase. Once again we are back to situation where it seems the peace has finally settled around the sale, especially since Salvo has let his last card slip through making the necessary documentation available in the so called “data room” accessible for the potential buyers.
The Valencia “data room” was opened to the buyers last week, and the first two were given access. The new timeline gives the potentials some four weeks to provide their offers after reviewing the numbers in the data room, where Valencia will upload any data required but no more. The 31st of March at 4pm no more offers will be received. After that, the committee will spend about three weeks reviewing the offers before making a recommendation to the Fundación council. Then, the winning bid will have to achieve a 2/3 majority vote. After that approval from the general assembly will be asked, a pure formality since the previous controls 70% of the shares. This all means that a takeover is highly unlikely to happen until mid May at the earliest.
The reports of bids the size of debt added investment in players have caused Valencia fans to dream of a future of beauty, but might yet again face the beast. One might then hope the political battles witnessed so far had reached their end. They have not. Not at all.
While everyone (myself included) talk about offers, that is not really the case. The actual offers for the club is not likely to arrive until the last minute before the deadline. As I wrote in the previous phase, new information can appear at any point, and a offer made before it has to only increases risk of counter parts having more information than you did when they submit their offers. Albeit that two offers passed Bankia’s filter in the first phase and already have access to the data room, but that does not mean they have made formal bids. Up until the deadline you can expect more rumours, more local names being connected with claimed bids and rumours, lots of rumours. The question is what will happen when these local names start fighting to be the one chosen for a presidential or football director role….?
With a new process to receive offers rumours have yet again begun searing out of Valencia, where bids are reported to come from the US, Russia, UK, Arabia, Red Bull and ISG. These are at best speculation, and should not be mistaken for truth. What seems to be certain is that Peter Lim has told Salvo he is out and that the Arab bid, rumoured since the start of the sale process, is regarded the main contender to be the last man standing after the dust settles. And here we come to the issue of the political battle. Some have realized that after deciding the buyer, there is something even more important; controlling the buyer.
Valencia is a heavily politicized community where the ruling Partido Popular politicians seem to have a hand in most of what happens of bigger events. The smartest buyers will have realized that having these on their side will prove a very beneficial advantage in order to win the bid. The recipe followed by the authorities for years is that of having a politically connected president and someone the public likes to form part of the leadership.
The Arab bid has understood this and seem to have connections to long time Valencia president wannabe Alfonso Rus and fan hero Amadeo Carboni. For Rus it is maybe the last chance to fulfil his dream. For Generalitat Valenciana it is the opportunity to secure a confidant in the leadership and investments in the region as well as the club (another caramel for the politicians). For Carboni it is his opportunity to redeem himself after the QSF debacle, and to work with football again. However, the Arab bid does not seem to be Alfonso Rus’ only horse in the race. He will fight for his glory. He wants this.
For those that hoped the club will finally break their political shackles, it seems they are in for disappointment. Maybe it was naive to even hope for it. Maybe the winner of the sale process is already decided. The question left to us fans is; will it ever change? Will we ever have the beauty without the beast?