Real Madrid to Sue La Liga, CVC Chiefs over Proposed $3.2 Bln Deal

La Liga President Javier Tebas poses before an online interview with Reuters at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid, Spain January 27, 2021. (Reuters)
La Liga President Javier Tebas poses before an online interview with Reuters at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid, Spain January 27, 2021. (Reuters)
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Real Madrid to Sue La Liga, CVC Chiefs over Proposed $3.2 Bln Deal

La Liga President Javier Tebas poses before an online interview with Reuters at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid, Spain January 27, 2021. (Reuters)
La Liga President Javier Tebas poses before an online interview with Reuters at the La Liga headquarters in Madrid, Spain January 27, 2021. (Reuters)

Real Madrid will launch civil and criminal lawsuits against La Liga president Javier Tebas and CVC Capital Partners' chief Javier de Jaime Guijarro over their proposed 2.7-billion-euro ($3.16 billion) deal, the Spanish club said on Tuesday.

Real Madrid also said they would pursue legal action to block approval of the planned deal, which is to be voted on by La Liga members.

The league said last week that the deal, called "Boost La Liga", would strengthen its clubs and give them funds to spend on new infrastructure and modernization projects as well as increasing how much they could spend on players' salaries.

Real and Barcelona, however, have fiercely opposed the deal as it gives CVC a 10% share in the league's future television rights.

Tebas responded to the statement with a message on Twitter in which he criticized Real president Florentino Perez for using "threatening methods".

CVC Capital Partners said "the legal action announcement is totally disproportionate and manifestly unfounded", adding that it reserved the right to take any available legal action to defend itself.

In a statement sent shortly after Real Madrid announced the legal action, CVC said it hoped La Liga's member clubs would approve the deal, which it described as "beneficial to all".

Barcelona president Joan Laporta last week said the deal was like "mortgaging the club's rights over the next half-century" and said he would reject it, even though it would have helped alleviate the Catalans' financial problems and allowed them to sign Lionel Messi, who has left Barca, to a new contract.

The Spanish league last week said it was not worried by legal moves from Real Madrid and that legal disputes between the two entities were common.



Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Takes a Stake in Audi’s Future F1 Team

 Formula One F1 - Qatar Grand Prix - Lusail International Circuit, Lusail, Qatar - November 29, 2024 Sauber's Guanyu Zhou, Williams' Franco Colapinto and McLaren's Oscar Piastri during practice. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Qatar Grand Prix - Lusail International Circuit, Lusail, Qatar - November 29, 2024 Sauber's Guanyu Zhou, Williams' Franco Colapinto and McLaren's Oscar Piastri during practice. (Reuters)
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Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Takes a Stake in Audi’s Future F1 Team

 Formula One F1 - Qatar Grand Prix - Lusail International Circuit, Lusail, Qatar - November 29, 2024 Sauber's Guanyu Zhou, Williams' Franco Colapinto and McLaren's Oscar Piastri during practice. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Qatar Grand Prix - Lusail International Circuit, Lusail, Qatar - November 29, 2024 Sauber's Guanyu Zhou, Williams' Franco Colapinto and McLaren's Oscar Piastri during practice. (Reuters)

The sovereign wealth fund of Qatar is acquiring a “significant minority stake” in what will become Audi's works Formula 1 team from 2026, in a deal announced Friday ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

A joint statement said the Qatar Investment Authority will be “a long-term investor and partner” and provide “a substantial capital injection” that will help the team expand its infrastructure.

The team is currently competing as Sauber and will be rebranded as the Audi works outfit for 2026 after it reached agreement for a full takeover earlier this year.

“This additional capital will accelerate the team’s growth and is yet another milestone on our long-term strategy,” Audi chief executive Gernot Döllner said in the joint statement.

Qatar is already an investor in the Volkswagen Group, of which Audi is a part.

“QIA believes that Formula 1 is a sport with significant untapped investment potential,” QIA chief executive Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi said.

"The increasing commercialization of professional sports as an entertainment offering globally, and the increasingly global popularity of Formula 1, has made for an exciting opportunity for our first major motorsports investment.”

Sauber is changing both its drivers for 2025, as Nico Hülkenberg and rookie Gabriel Bortoleto arrive to replace Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. It is the only team yet to score a point this season.