FootBiz newsletter #64: Behind Sir Jim's PR push and Ronaldo's election U-turn

There are many inconveniences and pet hates that people have about travelling.

But by far the worst, as someone who travels transatlantic fairly regularly, is arriving at a hotel tired from your three hours of mediocre plane sleep only to be told to come back again in several hours because your room isn’t ready.

“But we can look after your bags for you.”

As you may have gathered from the grumpy tone, I am currently typing this while double-fisting caffeinated beverages in the nearest comfortable-looking place I could find to the hotel.

Incredibly, the wonders of modern technology mean that, even in these more dire of first-world disasters, you can still find a way to not only bet on the Cheltenham Festival but also stream the races and see those horses you backed lose in real time.

And so it is that from this improvised office of tiredness, where I can’t be the only person lightly cursing Ballyburn under my breath, that we bring you today’s newsletter - for which Matt deserves most (if not all) of the credit.

Table of Contents

• Sir Jim’s big week

• Top docs leaving United

• Ronaldo pulls out of election

• Extra CL place for PL

• Azteca refuses access to inspectors

• Could the Premier League sign a CBA?

• M&A Murmurs

• Sunderland financials

• Bournemouth plan phased stadium expansion

Sir Jim’s big week

Sir Jim Ratcliffe spent several hours talking to journalists and multiple hat-wearer Gary Neville this week, which is longer than the entire Glazer family have devoted to addressing Manchester United since they first bought the club 22 years ago, but the British billionaire's admittedly compelling public appearances managed to produce more questions than they delivered answers. 

As discussed here previously, some of Ratcliffe's claims in Monday's media interviews, such as that without INEOS' intervention United would have run out of money this year, do not stand up to scrutiny, while in unveiling Sir Norman Foster's vision for a new 100,000-seat stadium, the most salient inquiries were avoided entirely. Questions over funding, costings, designs, timelines, and even the tender process for appointing architects were flat-batted away by both Ratcliffe and United chief executive Omar Berrada, who looked far less comfortable than his boss in the media spotlight.

As a man who within the space of a few minutes was defending United's decision to cut £40,000 in funding for a former player's charity as well as spending £4.1million to remove Dan Ashworth due to a lack of "chemistry," Ratcliffe gives the impression of not caring what people think, but this is all part of his carefully curated image. As one executive at another club put it to FootBiz this week, if Ratcliffe was as good at running sports teams as he is at public relations, then Manchester United would not be 14th in the Premier League. 

Ratcliffe pulled off a trick honed by other characteristic frontmen of offering thousands of words without saying anything at all, so what was he trying to do? A source who has worked with INEOS on other projects but is not currently involved at United drew a distinction between the 72-year-old's two addresses, albeit they were inextricably linked.

Ratcliffe's target in his Monday media interviews was essentially United fans, some of whom had spent the previous day marching on Old Trafford in protest at some of his decisions, including implementing ticket price rises whilst making up to 450 members of staff redundant at a time when the men's first team are drastically underperforming. In painting such a dire picture of the state of the club's finances, Ratcliffe was attempting to justify some of those unpopular decisions, put the focus on the players themselves, indirectly blame the Glazers, and warn that worse could be to come, all whilst portraying himself as an avuncular uncle who says the unsayable.

Behind a lectern at the offices of Foster+Partners the following day Ratcliffe was speaking to a smaller audience, the various stakeholders in government, banking, and private equity whose money and support will be required to turn Foster's grand vision for what has been dubbed New Trafford, into reality. The doom and gloom, "forest of numbers" vibe was replaced by a far more upbeat pitch emphasising United's boldness, ambition, and potential to deliver growth — an apparent 360-degree turn from the owner of a club facing bankruptcy 12 hours earlier.

On Wednesday, Berrada and Collette Roche, United's chief operating officer, addressed an even more select group in Cannes at the MIPIM conference, an exhibition and networking event for the real estate industry. 

Having secured an unfunded and unspecified pledge of government backing from Chancellor Rachel Reeves for the Old Trafford regeneration project in January, United are determined to maintain momentum in their pitch to the Treasury and other potential investors, the overriding reason for Ratcliffe's forest of words.

Top docs leaving United

Another significant staffing issue at United emerged this week with the news that head of sports medicine Gary O’Driscoll is leaving the club after just 18 months in the job. Senior men’s first-team doctor Jim Moxon has also resigned after two years in a pair of unexpected departures that are not connected to the latest round of redundancies at Old Trafford.

O’Driscoll joined United at the start of last season after 16 years at Arsenal and his sudden departure has come as a major surprise internally. United have suffered badly with injuries during his time at the club, with more than 60 separate cases of injury and illness undermining Erik Ten Hag last season and Ruben Amorim currently without 10 first-teamers and resorting to putting youth-team players on the bench.

While O'Driscoll has not been blamed for this misfortune, INEOS have taken an increasing interest in United's medical and sports science departments since buying 28 per cent of the club.

Moxon, per the Telegraph, is joining Brighton & Hove Albion.

Ronaldo pulls out of election

Ronaldo is pulling out of the race to become president of the Brazilian football federation.

His abrupt withdrawal from an election that isn’t even scheduled for another 11 months comes after the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker failed to garner any support from Brazil’s local state federations.

“If the majority of those with decision-making power believe that Brazilian football is in good hands, my opinion matters little,” he said in a statement.

“As I said before, my first steps would be to give clubs a voice and space, as well as listen to the federations to improve competitions and sports development in their states. The necessary change would come from this strategic alignment, with the strength of a shared vision.

“However, in my first contact with the 27 affiliates, I found 23 doors closed.

“The federations refused to welcome me into their homes, arguing that they were satisfied with the current administration and supported their reelection.

“I couldn't present my project, take my ideas, and listen to them the way I wanted. There was no openness for dialogue.”

"The statute gives the federations the majority vote, and therefore it's clear there's no way to reach an agreement. The majority of state leaders support the incumbent president; that's their right, and I respect it, regardless of my beliefs."

Ronaldo had surprised those in Valladolid last week by making a surprise visit to the club and city that he had turned his back on as they plummeted to the bottom of La Liga.

With Wednesday’s announcement that he is no longer running for the CBF presidency, that return to Castilla-Leon suddenly made a lot more sense.

What the Brazilian does with the club now is very much in question. While the relationship between ownership and fans seems broken, with protests calling for Ronaldo to leave the club, the reality is that its value continues to diminish with relegation a near-certainty.

Will Ronaldo attempt a rapprochement of sorts, funding their attempt to gain promotion back to La Liga and thus restoring some value to his investment?

Or is this relationship too broken?

Extra CL place for PL

Barring a sequence of utterly freak occurrences (which can happen in football!) the Premier League will gain a bonus Champions League place for next season.

The fifth-placed team in England this season will be the ultimate beneficiary of a campaign of strong performances from Premier League clubs in Europe.

Even with Liverpool’s exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain this week, five of England’s seven entrants into UEFA competitions remain and they are the favourites to win both the Europa League and Conference League.

With 10 games to go, just seven points separate third and ninth place in the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle United, Brighton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth battling for continental berths.

Germany and Italy put forth the best coefficient performances last season, resulting in Champions League spots for Borussia Dortmund and Bologna. Dortmund last night made the quarter-finals of the competition after dispatching Lille.

While England leads the coefficient table comfortably, Spain are second with a much narrower buffer over Italy.

Athletic Club’s tie with Roma in the Europa League will go a way to helping decide between the two leagues, while Fiorentina or Real Betis overcoming first-leg disappointments in the Conference League tonight could also alter the race.

Azteca refuses access to inspectors

FIFA's record on protecting the rights of contractors involved in World Cup construction projects is again under scrutiny after the world governing body were accused of refusing inspectors access to observe conditions inside Mexico’s Azteca Stadium.

A global construction trade union, the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) released a statement on Tuesday saying they had been denied access to the 80,000-capacity venue, which is being renovated for the 2026 World Cup. The BWI claimed they had reached an agreement to undertake “joint inspections” of World Cup stadia in Mexico, the USA and Canada ahead of 2026, only for FIFA to withdraw before signing the contract.

FIFA have been widely criticised by human rights groups for failing to ensure the safety of workers, particularly on building projects for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A report from FIFA's sub-committee on human rights and social responsibility published last November concluded that "a number of severe human rights impacts did ultimately occur in Qatar from 2010 through 2022" and recommended compensation be paid to workers' families. FIFA declined to do so, having already set up their own £39million "legacy fund" from the tournament.

In a statement, FIFA said they did not manage the construction of the Azteca Stadium, but that labour rights on site were being supervised by a local union, the Confederación Autónoma de Trabajadores y Empleados de México (CATEM).

Could the Premier League sign a CBA?

If you’re not yet a premium subscriber, then you’ve not read Rob Draper set out how the Premier League might find a way to untie its Gordian knot of legal and regulatory problems.

Now is your chance, though.

M&A Murmurs

777 Partners spun such a wide-reaching and tangled web during their (frankly insane) dalliance with football that it is taking some time to undo.

After resolving the Everton situation, Melbourne Victory has become the next 777 club to legally extricate their creditors. Financial services firm A-Cap, who took on 777’s soccer holdings and hired investment bank Moelis to sell them off, confirmed they have sold their ~20% stake in the A-League franchise to existing Victory shareholders.

A-Cap’s portfolio manager, David Shaw, said: "It is with great confidence that we pass the torch onward, knowing the club is in capable hands. We are optimistic about the future and look forward to seeing how this new chapter unfolds."

777 originally bought 19.9% of the Victory with a path to own nearly 70% via a number of option clauses. That never came to pass, with 777 collapsing amid allegations of serious fraud, namely that they had falsely pledged as collateral for loans over $350 million in assets that they did not actually own.

Another former 777 portfolio club, Genoa, recently announced an acquisition by Romanian entrepreneur Dan Sucu but that deal is expected to go to the courts.

Sevilla, Hertha Berlin, Red Star, Standard Liege, Vasco da Gama (and Genoa, pending the result of litigation) are still to be sold.

The Friedkin Group — who saved Everton from the disinterested gawp of Farhad Moshiri, the amorous glances of John Textor and the questionable interests of 777 Partners that have since been redacted by lawyers — are one bidder for the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics.

Atalanta owner Steve Pagliuca, who is already an investor in the Celtics, is another football investor looking to buy one of basketball’s most storied franchises. Former Roma owner James Pallotta also owns a piece of the team.

In a move rarely seen in the market, the current ownership group looked to cash in while the team is on top, announcing soon after their championship win that they would look to sell the franchise.

Pagliuca is on the managing board of the current ownership group and counts on strong relationships with the NBA but is not seen as a shoo-in to win the process.

Four groups have presented their plans to the NBA, with a deadline for final bids next week. The Celtics are expected to fetch between $5-6bn having last sold for $360m in 2002.

The Friedkin Group’s interest was first reported by Sportico, while sources confirmed to FootBiz that Pagliuca had hired the Raine Group to assist him in the process.

Sunderland financials

Sunderland announced losses of £8.6million for the 2023/24 financial year this week, the 18th consecutive year in which they have recorded a deficit. 

The Championship club's combined losses since 2006 now total £276.6m, but despite this unhealthy balance sheet, they should have no problem complying with the EFL's profit and sustainability regulations due to their high level of spending they have diverted towards their Academy.

Sunderland’s losses over the EFL's three-year reporting cycle were £24.7m, which exceeds their permitted lower loss limit of £15m as they spent those seasons in League One, but the club will comply with PSR as a result of the cost of continuing to run a Category One academy.

Despite continued losses, Sunderland are on a sound financial footing that would be transformed if they were promoted to the Premier League, which is a real possibility given Regis Le Bris' side are secure in the play-off places with just seven games to go. Sunderland's operating loss is the 10th-best result in the Championship based on most recent figures, with over half of the league booking more than £20m in losses before player sales.

Bournemouth plan phased stadium expansion

Bournemouth are close to opening their new, state-of-the-art training facility and will then turn their attention to expanding the Premier League’s smallest stadium.

The Cherries have spent much of the last few decades in the lower reaches of the Football League, but former owner Maxim Demin bankrolled a rise through the divisions and eventually the promised land of the Premier League.

US-based businessman Bill Foley, the owner of NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights as well as a multi-club football operation that includes Lorient and Hibernian, bought the club from Demin and has overseen an incursion into the top half of the table under exciting young coach Andoni Iraola.

Foley told talkSPORT this week that the club is looking forward to its new training ground, but that it must take a phased approach to expanding the Vitality Stadium, which boasts just shy of 12,000 seats.

“We are opening our new training facility in April and the players are moving in before the end of the month, and the academy will move over probably in late April or early May,” said Foley.

“That's a big first step, and this is a serious facility. Our players have already seen it, they've already toured it, with an indoor pitch and we will have four outdoor pitches.

“They'll be under the lights so it's a really state-of-the-art facility. The next step is really our stadium, and we are well underway to having a solution with several stages in mind.

“The first stage would be would grow to about 16,000 seats, the next stage would be about 20,000, and the third stage would be to about 24,000 seats and much more hospitality and a much more welcoming environment.

“My job is to really make sure we have an environment that attracts good players and is a situation where those players want to stay and don't want to move on.

“We can compete salary wise with just about anybody and we need to have the right facilities.”