Getafe president Angel Torres on Monday confirmed the sale to the Spanish top flight club to Dubai’s Royal Emirates Group.
“The decision to sell the club is because, logically, the more years that you are in the first division, the greater the risk of getting into debt. It is difficult to compete in this league,” he said in comments published by newswire AFP.
“Each year that you are in the first division you get into more debt, we could not put more money, the banks were not lending to us, so we had to go out and look for investors,” he added.
Torres said he managed to negotiate an increase in the club’s annual budget to €65m from the current €45m with the new owners so as to be able to recruit new players.
He said the club’s name and symbol would remain the same and the jobs of the 140 people who depend directly on the club would be maintained.
Dubai’s Royal Emirates Group on Sunday confirmed its buyout of the Spanish La Liga side and said it plans invest up to $130m in the team over a five-year period.
Doubts were raised over the deal after Getafe president Angel Torres told reporters the Spanish club remained in talks and said he had visited Dubai in a bid to secure sponsors.
Royal Emirates Group, which is chaired by a member of Dubai’s ruling Al Maktoum family, said the contract had been signed and Torres had been misquoted.
Two other Spanish clubs have been bought by Gulf-based buyers over the past year.
Qatari billionaire Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani bought Malaga in May 2010 for 25 million euros.
And Bahrain-based Indian tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed bought debt-hit Racing Santander in January for a reported €30-40m.
Follow us on
