Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung’s planned takeover of Premier League side Birmingham City is set to provide a shot in the arm for China’s soccer players.
The billionaire is expected to complete his US$130 million purchase of the club in the next three weeks after formally lodging a bid by sending out official offer documents to other shareholders on Tuesday.
He already owns 29.9 percent of the team and co-owners David Sullivan and the Gold brothers, David and Ralph, have indicated they will sell their 50 percent stake.
If he reaches a 90 percent stake that will trigger the compulsory purchase of the remaining shares, Yeung’s declared objective.
But he also has another objective — developing Chinese soccer.
“Over the past 10 years China has had its sports boosted, but there has been no development for football,” Yeung told British reporters when lodging the takeover bid.
“So I would like to make my humble contribution. In the future, when the team is stabilized, we will recruit Chinese players who have potential,” he said.
“My biggest wish is to bring the English Premier League club to China, promote English professionalism and football concepts to the Chinese, and to let the Chinese know how a English football team is managed,” Yeung said.
Chinese soccer has long needed a savior.
Despite being a country of 1.3 billion people, the national team has repeatedly underachieved, qualifying only once for the World Cup finals when they reached the 2002 tournament in Japan and Korea.
They crashed out of qualification for next year’s World Cup at the first hurdle and are currently on their seventh coach since 2000.
Few Chinese players have successfully made a switch to Europe, with national captain Zheng Zhi one of the few exceptions, recently signing for Scottish powerhouse Celtic after three years at Charlton Athletic.
The mission to cure China’s soccer ills would reportedly include building a dedicated school, inviting Chinese coaches to St Andrew’s and even offering Birmingham as a base for the national team before big tournaments.
In a recent interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, Vico Hui, chief executive of Grandtop International, Yeung’s investment vehicle that launched the takeover attempt, made clear China would be a beneficiary.
“We will become the first Chinese owners of a club in the Premier League. Our business will be idolized. We will be bringing glory to the Chinese people,” he told the newspaper.
“China has a huge market. We will try to promote the business. We may talk to the management about swapping players between China and the United Kingdom to improve Chinese football technique,” he said.
Shareholders have until Oct. 6 to accept the offer, which is being funded by a £57 million (US$94 million) bridging loan pending the completion of a planned share issue at the Hong Kong-listed Grandtop International.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS