Peter Lim Valencia owner: ‘I own a football club and see what happens. Nothing more ‘

For Peter Liment, Valencia CF, one of the most successful football clubs in Spain, has been “incredibly good at networking”, allowing the billionaire investor to join the table of the world’s favorite sport.

“Once we were having dinner, all of us [club] owner, in one of the Champions League finals, “the pacifist Lim told the Financial Times in a strange interview. We were like children … this game can make everything equal. ”

According to him, he is one of the richest people in Singapore with a budget of $ 2.7 million Forbes, Lim describes Valencia as an “active trophy” that allows him to improve with football stars like David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Although the 67-year-old has no plans to sell Valencia, he believes it is worth much more than the 100 million euros spent in 2014 to gain a majority stake in the club.

This unpleasant attitude may be shared by the club’s owners, but it angers the anger of Valencia fans as they complain about the detriment of the results the teams have made on the pitch for personal wealth. This disconnect is shared in football, and grows between the fans who see his club primarily as a local institution and the fans who are attracted to financial opportunities to exploit an audience around the world.

Fans of England’s Arsenal and Manchester United have launched it protests Against US billionaire owners, influenced by their agents has failed an effort to start turning money around European Super League. Valencia, historically one of the best clubs in Spain, was not big enough to get an invitation to take part in the breakaway competition.

“You look at the Super League, it’s empty [for big clubs to] survive, no matter the fans, ”Lime said. “Why? Because. . . You have 100m fan audio in Asia. . . Be [the Super League club owners] have you ever considered the local derbies, the inconvenience of watching them on Wednesday because I had to work the next day? They don’t care. “

Lime, however, argues that fans need to understand that the football business model is broken.

Tight finances

Income shortages has revealed the causes of the pandemic indebtedness in major clubs like FC Barcelona of Spain and Italian Inter Milan, who have spent many years searching for silver vessels for years.

There is the same problem in Valencia, where under the command of Lima it has achieved pre-tax profits in its seven-year reign with debts of around 200 million euros alone. Meanwhile, the group’s salary bills fell from 58.2 million euros in 2014 to 116.4 million euros in 2020, according to KPMG Consulting.

To arrest the trend, Lim allowed the sale of players at the start of the season, and said Valencia would support the promotion of young players from his academy.

Valencia fans complain that Lim is a poor guard and lead the club to mediocrity. Head coach Javi Gracia was released last week with the team in La Liga, 14th in Spain, closer to relegation spots than qualifying for the European competition winners.

Gracia Valet is the eighth manager to be handed over to Lima. Among the short-term appointments was Gary Neville, who had little coaching experience and lasted just four months as a former Manchester United player. It’s a lim investor A small English club in Salford City, Neville and other former United players.

“All the supporters have lost faith in him,” said Marcos Colomer, a member of the Libertad VCF, a pro-Valencia group, organizing a protest against Lim’s property over the weekend. “Just see when he can find a way to make more money by selling to the best deal.”

Lim was the son of a fishmonger who was a stockbroker before Wilmar paid his early bets on Singapore’s palm oil company. Its shares sold what was once one of the world’s largest agricultural companies in 2010 for $ 1.5 billion. In addition to football, his investments include hospitals, an architectural practice and real estate.

In the same year, the offer to buy Liverpool fell. This effort prompted several clubs to seek him out as a potential acquirer, including Valencia, which was in dire financial straits.

In the early 2000s Valencia played two Champions League finals and lost. Deciding to win Europe’s most coveted trophy, club executives spent a lot on the players. They also began building a new stadium, Mestalla, on existing land, funded by plans to sell it to real estate developers.

These people defend “because we are Valencians, because we know the club”. But dependent on the Valencians, the club failed, right?

The financial crisis of 2008 halted construction. Valencia’s debts left it on the verge of collapse. “I don’t want to run [the club] down, but. . .[Valencia]He’s 102, ”Lime said.“ He’s never won the Champions League [the past leaders] do you want to win at all costs? You have rocks in your head. “

Valencian fans considered Lim’s arrival to be a fertilizer for Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour of Manchester City, believing he would plunge into the deep pockets to fund the team’s rise.

The reality has been worse. During Lima’s tenure, the club has it qualified three seasons for the Champions League, and two years ago won the Copa del Rey competition in the Copa del Rey. These levels have been interspersed with inconsistencies and poor results.

The incomplete stadium in Valencia remains a mere shell. Efforts to fund the construction were completed earlier this season. “The debt we should have created is unsustainable,” Lime said, though he hopes to find a “solution” to complete the project.

Gaspar Romero, a lifelong fan of his grandfather who was the club’s accountant, is skeptical: “He leads the team every time he is further away from the Champions League in Valencia. Every year the debt increases and the players have to sell it. ”

Lim has dismissed criticism of his leadership as “trying to make sure I don’t sell the club to anyone other than the club itself”. These people defend “because we are Valencians, because we know the club”. But dependent on the Valencians, the club failed, right? “

Under examination

Fans denounce Lima’s passion for player trading and his close relationship with Jorge Mendes, a Portuguese super agent who has signed many players for Valencia. Lime defends the relationship, saying many of Mendes ’clients, such as João Cancelo and André Gomes, have won with profits.

Prior to buying for Valencia, however, Lim was involved in “third-party ownership”, acquiring a player’s financial rights and recovering the return of future transfers. The practice was banned by Fifa, an international football governing body, a year after Lima bought Valencia through a Meriton investment vehicle in Hong Kong.

Meriton has discussed FIFA’s collaboration with past TPO organizations, but Lima still denies any involvement in those deals. According to the club’s accounts, Meriton has lent the club around € 50 million, a debt secured against the future sales of the first eight players.

Lim described the deal as a “kidnapping” because it ensures that Meriton achieves a higher level than other creditors if he prioritizes Valencia. It also owes the Spanish lender Bankia about 150 million euros. After repaying Meriton’s loan, Lime complained that the commercial profits would remain with the club.

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Without being persuaded by such answers, Libertad VCF wants to convince thousands of Valencian shareholders to join forces with a combined 5 per cent stake. At this threshold, under Spanish law, the team may have a greater capacity to review club operations, such as access to contracts and the appointment of a board member.

But Lime says the complaint uses Valencia to speculate in player bargaining or to take advantage of the club in other ways.

“I can do 101 things to make money and I think I can control it better,” he said. “This is pretty nice. Wake up, I’m the owner of the football club and then I see what happens. It’s nothing more.

“And I have some kind of compassion [fans], but among us, among friends, we say that the smallest things give you the biggest headache. “