Alamy

16 March 2023 - 4:43 PM

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Alamy | Lyon fans during the UEFA Europa League Quarter Final second leg match between Lyon and West Ham United at Groupama Stadium on April 14th 2022 in Lyon, France.

Interview: “Football is a new investment asset class, but needs better controls to keep attracting capital”

  • Tifosy CEO Fausto Zanetton talks to Off The Pitch about the €850 million Lyon takeover, football governance, his new lending fund and his late business partner, Gianluca Vialli.
  • Since it was formed in 2015 Tifosy has worked on deals with the likes of Inter Milan, Rangers, Venezia and Inter Miami. In 2021 he created a $350 million NYSE listed SPAC.
  • Why it matters: Zanetton is one of the most prominent bankers in football and he believes his new lending fund plugs a critical gap in the market.
  • The perspective: Football needs to have more predictability of cashflows, better contractual flexibility and a discussion on redistribution to keep attracting investment into the game.

A demand for greater regulation. A call for discussions on more equitable ways of redistributing revenues. A publicly stated desire for better governance. 

These are not the sort of topics of conversation one would expect a prominent banker to discuss on the record. But then the industry – football – in which Fausto Zanetton has cornered a niche is not a typical one. 

Since founding Tifosy in 2015 with the late-Italian football legend, Gianluca Vialli, the adviso

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