DUBAI // A Dubai-based company yesterday confirmed it has bought the Spanish La Liga football club Getafe CF, which it will rebrand Getafe Team Dubai and hope to inject with playing staff from the Middle East.
Royal Emirates Group of Companies, an investment firm headed by Sheikh Butti bin Suhail Al Maktoum, said it bought the Madrid-based club for "between 70 and 90 million euros" (Dh374m and Dh481m).
Representatives of the firm, which is not widely known in the business world, declined to detail the financing of the deal but said most of the funding would come from the company's cash reserves.
At a signing ceremony at the Burj al Arab, Kaiser Rafiq, the Royal Emirates managing director, said: "The majority of payment is made up front and there are some legalities that are needed to go through."
Mr Rafiq, who yesterday distanced himself from a CV published on the internet after purported employers and universities denied he was ever involved with them, added: "As per the books, there is no debt. It has been reported there are quite a few debts in quite a few teams, but we don't have to worry about the restructuring of the debt at this point."
Mr Rafiq said that the Royal Emirates Group was a private holding company and "no funding was coming from the ruling family. This is strictly a private business deal".
Mr Rafiq added that there was a "misunderstanding" about his career history, including claims on his CV that he had obtained a doctorate from New York University (NYU) and a business degree from Yale University School of Management.
The deal makes Getafe the third Spanish club to be bought by foreign buyers in the past year following the sale of Malaga to a member of the Qatari royal family and Racing Santander to an Indian businessman.
Getafe have been in the Spanish first division for seven years. The team finished sixth last season but are presently 14th, just four points above the relegation places. The club, located in Madrid's suburbs, attracts the lowest attendances in the Spanish top flight.
"Getafe are a young, but a rising team and capable of delivering some surprises. For the coming year, we are definitely going to secure a position in the top six," Mr Rafiq said.
Suliman Butti, Royal Emirates Group's project director, said the company is targeting qualification to the Champions League, Europe's elite club competition, within two seasons.
"Our vision is to now to beat Real Madrid," he said.
The club would retain its current management and squad of players this season, Royal Emirates' representatives said, but would invest in new players, including possibly an Emirati.
Manu del Moral, Getafe's captain, said he would welcome players from the Middle East. "It would be great if it helps the club grow," he said.
The striker added that the club needed to send a message of confidence to its fans that the deal can help the club to grow.
An immediate change was made to the club's name. Getafe CF will now add the tag line "Team Dubai" to its crest on the team shirts, stadium and other merchandise. A logo presented at the news conference featured Getafe's name and blue colours above Team Dubai – though Team Dubai lettering was larger.
"We are also happy to include the name Team Dubai," said Sheikh Butti. "I hope this will improve relations between the UAE and Spain."
In July last year, Mr Rafiq was presented with Getafe's official uniform and a signed football by the club's president, Angel Torres Sanchez, when he visited the UAE. Speaking yesterday, Mr Torres said Getafe has entertained offers in the past but Dubai's was the "most interesting and serious".
"We want the club to become first class after Real Madrid and Barcelona," he said. "For the investors' group, it will be a good deal because they can show what they want in our country.
"The important part now is that both parties do what they said they would do."
A statement from the Dubai Media Office said neither the Dubai Government nor Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had any connection with the deal.
Royal Emirates Group of Companies represents 64 companies, according to its website, including real estate development and construction, oil and energy firms.
eharnan@thenational.ae
* With Reuters, AP and AFP
