VivaTech takes the stage as the world's leading event for tech and startups
19 Jun 2023 18:33
A US$4.6 billion (S$6.45bn) deal struck earlier this year between Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Suning Appliances could potentially see Jiangsu Sainity ruled ineligible for the Champions League.
In August this year, Suning, which owns the Chinese Super League (CSL) club Jiangsu Sainity, sold a 19.99 percent stake in their group company to Alibaba for a reported $4.6bn, making Alibaba the second largest shareholder.
Before this latest acquisition, Alibaba had already acquired a 50 % stake in this year’s AFC Champions League (ACL) winners and five-time defending Chinese Super League champions, Guangzhou Evergrande, under a deal struck last year. That means Alibaba now has two CSL clubs under its ownership.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), however, has strict rules when it comes to cross-ownership of clubs, especially those competing in the same competition.
Article 15.3 of the AFC Statutes states: “The Member Association shall ensure that no natural or legal person (including holding companies and subsidiaries) exercise third-party control over more than one club or group whenever the integrity of any match or competition could be jeopardised.”
There are interesting times ahead as this will be the case next year with Guangzhou and Jiangsu both qualifying automatically for the ACL.
Source: fourfourtwo
Proofread by John Devlin
Related coverage
FIFA's new “Super Club World Cup” to debut in China
28 Aug 2017
Le Sports and Tencent agree FIFA Online deal
20 May 2016
FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 TV Broadcasting Report
17 Jul 2015
Chinese streaming platform Youku obtain 2018 FIFA World Cup Media rights
29 May 2018
Alibaba to sponsor 2016 FIFA Club World Cup
09 Dec 2015
More from Yutang Sports
SportAccord’s conversation with FEI President Ingmar De Vos: Equestrian sport’s road to Versailles
22 Apr 2024
Birmingham Welcomes the World as SportAccord 2024 Kicks Off
08 Apr 2024
Reasons why Leading Gold Partner Sport Event Denmark returns to SportAccord every year
08 Feb 2024
HealthAccord spotlights mental health and female athlete well-being
08 Feb 2024
SportAccord 2024 - combating online abuse ‘chance for sport to show its power’
22 Mar 2024
Yutang Sports
loading...