Europe’s increasingly foreign-owned football clubs are becoming top players in outward direct investment.
In March, a delegation from Real Madrid CF met Iraq’s prime minister in Baghdad to talk about setting up a Real Madrid Academy and plans for schools that feature football training as part of a general education. The $23.6m project is one example of an unprecedented wave of investment by European clubs into emerging markets, especially in Asia.
Last year, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, PSG, AFC Ajax, FC Dynamo Brest, City Football Group and Bundesliga International made 18 separate investments worldwide for a total of $380m, according to fDi Markets, an FT data service that has monitored cross-border greenfield investment since 2003.