MADRID: La Liga club Real Valladolid has found a principal owner in former Brazilian star and World Cup winner, Ronaldo.
He has bought a 51% share in the club and subsequently becomes the president of its board of directors. However, he confirmed on Monday that Carlos Suarez, the club’s current president, will retain his individual post as a part of the ownership agreement.
“We want to grow and reach where our will allows us,” Ronaldo declared.
“I will use four words to define our policies: competitiveness, transparency, revolution and social. I assure you that you will find me as a lover of Castilla-Leon, Valladolid and Real Valladolid.”
Suarez expressed his satisfaction at the development, claiming that Ronaldo’s entry will boost Real Valladolid’s profile in world football and he brings more than just financial acumen to the table. He also said that it took nearly a month for the agreement to be finalized.
“The deal was closed last Wednesday (29 August),” Suarez said.
“Ronaldo acquired 51% of the shares in a personal capacity. It was at the end of July when we started talking.
“It was not an economic issue, but now Valladolid can play in other leagues, Ronaldo puts us on the map now. I thought it was the best for the club, and that’s what I bet, you’ll see that it’s the ideal option for Valladolid.”
Ironically, when Ronaldo was playing in the La Liga for Real Madrid, he had scored six goals in the six matches he had played against the club.
However, this isn’t the first instance of the Brazilian investing in a sports business since his retirement from football in 2011. He is a part-owner of the Major League Soccer team, Fort Lauderdale Strikers in Florida that have credited him for attracting more sponsors than before. He is also the founder of the Ronaldo Academy, a training school for the youth in the USA and China and he plans to open 500 branches of it worldwide, according to a report in the Miami Herald in January 2015.
Besides football, Ronaldo owns a significant amount of shares in the A1 Team Brazil in motorsport and 9INE, the sports marketing firm since 2013 which attracted a $250 million investment from the world’s largest communications services company, WPP two years later.
