Kia Joorabchian
Encyclopedia
Kiavash "Kia" Joorabchian is an Iranian
-born British
-educated businessman largely involved in association football.
In the register of directorships at Companies House
in London Joorabchain gives two nationalities, Canadian and British, as well as two names, Kia Joorabchian and Kia Kavash, and two dates of birth, 14 July 1971 and 25 July 1971.
Although routinely described in the press as a football agent
, Joorabchian is not a licensed agent. The involvement of unlicensed agents in transfers in the English Premier League is prohibited by the Football Association. Joorabchian does not himself claim to be an agent, saying "I think the agency business is very different". He describes his business as advising players on their rights and clubs on transfers and contracts.
Joorabchian is also involved in the 'third-party' ownership of players, describing himself as an investment manager. In October 2008, he said, "I manage the investment group and obviously when the investment group is profitable, as fund manager, you also get a cut". In 2009 it was reported that the unnamed investors represented by Joorabchian were understood to own the economic rights to 60 or 70 players across Europe and South America.
, Iran
, the third son of an Iranian car-dealer businessman, Mohammed Joorabchian. According to Joorabchian his father's uncle had once run the biggest car manufacturer in the Middle East. The Joorabchian family emigrated from Iran
following the fall of the Shah
in 1979. They went to the United Kingdom
and then Canada
, returning to England when Joorabchian was 12. His father ran car dealerships, including Medway Autos in Kent.
Joorabchian was educated at Shiplake College
in Oxfordshire
and then at a school in Golders Green, north London. He went on to study chemistry and business studies at Queen Mary and Westfield College
, University of London
, dropping out after his second year.
He has supported Arsenal Football Club
since his childhood and later kept a corporate box at their Emirates Stadium
.
Joorabchian is married to Brazilian lawyer and restaurateur Tatiana Alonso.
in London. He became involved in the stock market and fund management, moving to New York
and establishing, with his associate, Reza Irani-Kermanian, an investment company, American Capital, based in Manhattan
but registered in the British Virgin Islands
.
A year later, in 1999, American Capital bought 85% of the Russian newspaper Kommersant
. After a month Kommersant’s ownership passed to the oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who was widely suspected to have been behind American Capital’s bid for the paper -something denied by Joorabchian who was said to have given assurances that he was not working on anyone else’s behalf. Raf Shakirov, who was replaced as editor after Berezovsky’s acquisition of Kommersant, told the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday in 2005 “Joorabchian was and is very much Berezovsky’s man”.
Although Joorabchian suffered in the stock market
crash of 2001, his sale of American Capital after that volatility brought him, on his own estimate, between £50 million and £60 million.
to take over Brazil
ian football club Corinthians
. He had briefly considered becoming involved at Arsenal
, but found it too expensive and had instead been pointed towards Brazilian football by Pele
's agent and the recommendation of Pini Zahavi
, the so-called 'super agent', whom Joorabchian described in 2006 as a friend of long standing.
The purchase of Corinthians
's was a 10-year deal stipulating that MSI
would provide $35 million –$20 million of which would cover debts– in return for 51% of future profits. Joorabchian moved to Brazil
and changed the way Corinthians
was run, increasing revenue by 500% in the first year.
A series of major signings followed MSI
's investment, including, most spectacularly, Carlos Tévez
, who was signed from Boca Juniors
for $22 million, an unprecedented amount for a transfer by a South American club. These were players who were engaged to play for Corinthians but whose economic rights were partly or wholly owned by MSI. By 2006 the company was listing as its investments not just Corinthians, but also the players Carlos Tévez
, Marcelo Mattos
, Gustavo Nery, Roger
, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Alberto, Sebastián Domínguez
and Marinho
. In 2005 Corinthians won the Brazilian title.
The Tévez transfer was brokered by the Argentinian football agent Fernando Hidalgo, who was a partner in the company HAZ Sports with Pini Zahavi
. Zahavi, responsible for numerous football deals, including the acquisition of Chelsea Football Club by Roman Abramovich
, acted as a broker for MSI
.
The source of the money behind MSI was a subject of considerable speculation. The Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS
suggested that a 15% share was owned by Abramovich, while Joorbachian’s name continued to be linked to that of Berezovsky. In 2005 the Georgian
businessman and owner of Dinamo Tbilisi
, Badri Patarkatsishvili
, a close associate of Berezovsky, told a journalist that they had indeed invested in Corinthians. Joorabchian himself was described by Brazilian authorities as "trying, at all costs, to hide knowledge of the people and businesses involved in the transactions".
In 2007, following allegations that Corinthians had been used to launder money, a Brazilian judge, Faustus Martins de Sanctis, ordered the arrest of Berezovsky, Joorabchian, Nojan Bedroud, cofounder of MSI, and four officials of club, including the chairman, Alberto Dualib
. MSI responded by saying that the judge’s actions were "absurd, arbitrary and lacking legal backing", while Joorabchian denied any wrongdoing and maintained that all payments made to Corinthians were "cleared through and approved by the Brazilian Central Bank".
The Brazilian court papers setting out the evidence on which the warrants of arrest were issued stated: “MSI belongs and has always belonged to the accused, Boris Berezovsky”. Berezovsky denied any business connection with Joorabchian or MSI.
In the light of these developments Corinthians broke off their association with MSI in July 2007. There had already been a public deterioration in relations between the directors of the club and its investors centering around the involvement of MSI and Joorabchian in the team's affairs, and the fact that the club had been left owning only five members of the playing squad. Tévez and Mascherano had been transferred to West Ham United
and there had been seven different managers in 18 months. In December 2007 Corinthians were relegated from Brazil's first division.
The warrant for Joorabchian's arrest was suspended by the Brazilian authorities in August 2008.
in June 2006. It was reported at the time that Joorabchian retained an investment in Tévez and Mascherano, whose economic rights were described as being owned by MSI. A subsequent Premier League investigation revealed that in February 2006 rights in Tévez had been transferred to MSI and a second company, Just Sports Inc., while Mascherano was jointly owned by Global Soccer Agencies and Mystere Services Ltd. All four companies were represented by Joorabchian.
In August 2006 the two players joined West Ham in the English Premier League. Pini Zahavi assisted in the transfers, revealing to the press that he stood to make money if the players were a success in England. Zahavi had an association over a number of years with Global Soccer Agencies, owners of a half share in Mascherano.
Zahavi also suggested that he had the idea for Joorabchian's proposed takeover of West Ham itself, "Was it my idea? Yes it was," Zahavi said. Joorabchian had investigated the possibility of a takeover of the club the autumn before Tévez and Mascherano moved to West Ham, promising to make £100 million available for new players in a £200 million deal valuing the club and its debts at £75 million. The takeover foundered when it proved impossible to agree a valuation for the club but the possibility was revived following the Tévez/Mascherano transfer. Patarkatsishvili announced that he was considering becoming involved in the bid. In the end no offer resulted and the club was sold to a consortium headed by Eggert Magnusson
.
Although the capture of Tévez and Mascherano was reported as a major coup for West Ham, the third-party ownership of the players proved highly controversial. At that time the practice was permitted as long as the investing party exercised no influence over the club's playing or transfer policy. It has been reported that Joorabchian in fact retained the power to transfer either player at any time during their contracts.
In April 2007 West Ham was fined a record £5.5 million by the Premier League for entering into third-party contracts whose existence they did not reveal in the knowledge that, in the words of the Premier League's findings, "the FAPL at the very least may not - and in all probability would not - have approved of such contracts". When Tévez was instrumental in West Ham's avoiding relegation at the end of the 2006-7 season the position was legally challenged by the relegated club, Sheffield United, on the ground that Tévez should have been ineligible to play. The claim was eventually settled out of court in March 2009 with West Ham paying Sheffield United £20 million over five years.
Speculation has subsequently linked Joorabchian with the takeover of the football clubs Fulham
, in early 2007, and Southampton
, in January 2008.
moved from West Ham United
to Manchester United
. The deal was subject to a protracted dispute with West Ham claiming that the player was registered to them and contracted until June 2010. The Premier League insisted that negotiations should be "done directly" with the club who should receive the fee for any transfer. Joorabchian maintained that MSI
and Just Sports Inc retained the economic rights to the player and that the deal had been negotiated with the "knowledge and permission" of West Ham. In a statement issued on behalf of MSI
Joorabchian said that West Ham
had "consistently provided private assurances while at the same time making contrary statements to the public at large".
Asked for a ruling by the Football Association and the Premier League, Fifa
judged that the matter should be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
. MSI and Just Sports Inc then issued a writ in order to "compel West Ham to release the registration of Carlos Tévez in accordance with contracts entered into between the parties".
The threat of action in the High Court was avoided by a settlement that saw West Ham
receive a fee of £2 million for Tévez's
registration. Joorabchian later claimed that West Ham
agreed to return the money with additional legal costs bringing the total to £2.6 million, apparently contradicting the club’s claim to the Premier League that they would be the beneficiary of the fee.
The terms of the transfer saw Manchester United
agree a two-year deal in which Tévez's
registration was leased by the club while his economic rights were retained by his third-party owners. Manchester United paid £3-4 million a year for Tévez’s commercial and football rights for the duration of the lease and secured the first option on a permanent transfer.
In September 2009 Tévez
signed for Manchester City
in a deal removing him from third-party ownership sometimes reported as being worth £47 million to the companies owning his economic rights, although that amount was disputed by Joorabchian who called the story "inaccurate and misleading".
over what he said were unmet payments by the club of £4.5 million and £2.6 million relating to Carlos Tévez
. Joorabchian claimed that he brokered a resolution between West Ham
and the two companies, MSI
and Just Sports Inc, who owned the player's economic rights and who initially refused to cancel that third-party arrangement as requested by the Premier League as part of their findings of April 2007. Potentially Tévez would not have played in the final two games of the 2006-7 season.
Joorabchian stated that the payments were to cover costs, the player’s salary, expenses and a loan fee, as well as £2 million he claimed to have paid to West Ham
for Tévez’s
registration as part of the deal that saw the player transferred to Manchester United in August 2007. Joorabchian's allegation that Tévez
received a salary and expenses other than that paid to him by West Ham
, would –were those payments to have been met by a third party– have breached the Premier League's regulations. West Ham United
claimed they were unaware of such payments.
The eventual out-of-court settlement of these proceedings saw Joorabchian engaged as a consultant by West Ham
with fees of more than £2 million. In this capacity Joorabchian was critical of transfer dealings made by Eggert Magnusson
and the club's former manager, Alan Curbishley
, who resigned saying that transfer policy had been taken out of his hands.
ownership and the role of Joorabchian in English football remained highly controversial throughout the period up to the player's transfer to Manchester City in September 2009. Joorabchian's continued opacity on the question of the identity of those behind the companies he represented was a point of particular discussion.
The heavily criticised involvement of third-parties in the ownership of players was banned by the Premier League for the start of the 2008-9 season. One high-ranking official had called it, "an unedifying trade in young people that rips the heart out of clubs which try to develop players". Joorabchian himself offered a defence of the arrangement, calling it "the South American model and a model that appears all over Europe". In his view third-party transfers are "a way of bringing outstanding players to clubs that would not be able to afford them ordinarily. So they increase the competition", further explaining: "What happens, in Brazil particularly, clubs cannot afford to buy a player. So they go to a business, a bank, a major supermarket, an individual, a person, a wealthy individual and say: 'We want Mr X. You put up 70, 80, 100 per cent of the money, let him play here.' It is a little bit like a loan deal between two clubs, except it is a loan deal between the club and a third party".
Joorabchian also claimed that concealed third-party ownership arrangements were common in the Premier League, saying in 2007: "I know a lot of players in the Premier League - and other leagues - which are here in the same format as we have done, but in a hidden scheme".
and A.C. Milan
, arranged to discuss the possible -although in the end unsuccessful- £91 million transfer to City of the Brazilian footballer, Kaká
.
Press reports connected Joorabchian to City's signing of Robinho
in 2008 and suggested that he was exercising a wider influence over the shape of City's transfer policy, specifically in attempting to bring a single megastar to the club to reflect a changed status under the ownership of Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
, rather than build a side of proven Premier League performers. Joorabchian admitted to having an informal association with Manchester City in October 2008.
Sources at Manchester City suggested that Joorabchian and Pini Zahavi
had developed links to the club under the regime of the previous owner, Thaksin Shinawatra
, who had originally appointed the City chief executive Garry Cook
. Cook himself said that the club "did not need and did not seek" Joorabchian's help in facilitating the negotiations with A.C. Milan
. Joorabchian was involved in the leaking of Carlos Tevez
's transfer request to Manchester City on 11th December 2010, by revealing the news to the Sunday Mirror
newspaper.
, then at Benfica but subject to transfer interest from across Europe, led by Chelsea
in the Premier League. The deal was reportedly part of an agreement reached with Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira
the previous year at the time of Ramires's
transfer to Benfica from Cruzeiro
in Brazil. A further 30% of the player's rights were reportedly owned by Joorabchian's associate Pini Zahavi
.
Ramires completed his move to Chelsea on 13 August 2010 on a four year contract for a reported fee of £17million. It is thought that Joorabchian would receive £6m of this fee.
that Joorabchian had been appointed to the position of "Football Advisor" at the club, and would be leading a clear-out of players, bringing in talented youth from around the world.
in 2006 suggested that he was at that time a director of 10 UK companies, many of them lossmaking, including Karmaa Racing, a horse racing company, and Karmaa, a kick-boxing club in Chalk Farm, London. His largest listed interest was at that time a car dealership, Greens of Rainham.
Iranian peoples
The Iranian peoples are an Indo-European ethnic-linguistic group, consisting of the speakers of Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, as such forming a branch of Indo-European-speaking peoples...
-born British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-educated businessman largely involved in association football.
In the register of directorships at Companies House
Companies House
Companies House is the United Kingdom Registrar of Companies and is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills . All forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the...
in London Joorabchain gives two nationalities, Canadian and British, as well as two names, Kia Joorabchian and Kia Kavash, and two dates of birth, 14 July 1971 and 25 July 1971.
Although routinely described in the press as a football agent
Sports agent
A sports agent procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete.In return, the sports agent generally receives between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, though these figures vary...
, Joorabchian is not a licensed agent. The involvement of unlicensed agents in transfers in the English Premier League is prohibited by the Football Association. Joorabchian does not himself claim to be an agent, saying "I think the agency business is very different". He describes his business as advising players on their rights and clubs on transfers and contracts.
Joorabchian is also involved in the 'third-party' ownership of players, describing himself as an investment manager. In October 2008, he said, "I manage the investment group and obviously when the investment group is profitable, as fund manager, you also get a cut". In 2009 it was reported that the unnamed investors represented by Joorabchian were understood to own the economic rights to 60 or 70 players across Europe and South America.
Family background and education
Kia Joorabchian was born in TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, the third son of an Iranian car-dealer businessman, Mohammed Joorabchian. According to Joorabchian his father's uncle had once run the biggest car manufacturer in the Middle East. The Joorabchian family emigrated from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
following the fall of the Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
in 1979. They went to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and then Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, returning to England when Joorabchian was 12. His father ran car dealerships, including Medway Autos in Kent.
Joorabchian was educated at Shiplake College
Shiplake College
Shiplake College is an independent school in Shiplake, by the River Thames just outside Henley-on-Thames, England. The school, with just over 350 pupils, admits day boys from 11-18 and boarding boys from 13-18. Day and boarding girls join the College in the Sixth Form.The College offers small class...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and then at a school in Golders Green, north London. He went on to study chemistry and business studies at Queen Mary and Westfield College
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, dropping out after his second year.
He has supported Arsenal Football Club
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
since his childhood and later kept a corporate box at their Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
.
Joorabchian is married to Brazilian lawyer and restaurateur Tatiana Alonso.
Early career, American Capital and Kommersant
Joorabchian worked first for his father and then as a trader at the International Petroleum ExchangeInternational Petroleum Exchange
The International Petroleum Exchange, based in London, was one of the world's largest energy futures and options exchanges. Its flagship commodity, Brent Crude was a world benchmark for oil prices, but the exchange also handled futures contracts and options on fuel oil, natural gas, electricity ,...
in London. He became involved in the stock market and fund management, moving to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and establishing, with his associate, Reza Irani-Kermanian, an investment company, American Capital, based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
but registered in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
.
A year later, in 1999, American Capital bought 85% of the Russian newspaper Kommersant
Kommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
. After a month Kommersant’s ownership passed to the oligarch Boris Berezovsky, who was widely suspected to have been behind American Capital’s bid for the paper -something denied by Joorabchian who was said to have given assurances that he was not working on anyone else’s behalf. Raf Shakirov, who was replaced as editor after Berezovsky’s acquisition of Kommersant, told the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday in 2005 “Joorabchian was and is very much Berezovsky’s man”.
Although Joorabchian suffered in the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
crash of 2001, his sale of American Capital after that volatility brought him, on his own estimate, between £50 million and £60 million.
Media Sports Investments and Corinthians
In 2004, Joorabchian founded Media Sports InvestmentsMedia Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
to take over Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian football club Corinthians
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
. He had briefly considered becoming involved at Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
, but found it too expensive and had instead been pointed towards Brazilian football by Pele
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
's agent and the recommendation of Pini Zahavi
Pini Zahavi
Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi is a football agent who has been involved in some of the most expensive and controversial transfer episodes of recent times....
, the so-called 'super agent', whom Joorabchian described in 2006 as a friend of long standing.
The purchase of Corinthians
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
's was a 10-year deal stipulating that MSI
Media Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
would provide $35 million –$20 million of which would cover debts– in return for 51% of future profits. Joorabchian moved to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and changed the way Corinthians
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
was run, increasing revenue by 500% in the first year.
A series of major signings followed MSI
Media Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
's investment, including, most spectacularly, Carlos Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
, who was signed from Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
for $22 million, an unprecedented amount for a transfer by a South American club. These were players who were engaged to play for Corinthians but whose economic rights were partly or wholly owned by MSI. By 2006 the company was listing as its investments not just Corinthians, but also the players Carlos Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
, Marcelo Mattos
Marcelo Mattos
Marcelo de Mattos Terra or simply Marcelo Mattos is a Brazilian football defensive midfielder. He currently plays for Botafogo....
, Gustavo Nery, Roger
Roger Galera Flores
Roger Galera Flores or simply Roger , is a Brazilian attacking midfielder. He currently plays for Cruzeiro.-Career:...
, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Alberto, Sebastián Domínguez
Sebastián Domínguez
Sebastián Enrique Domínguez is an Argentine football centre back who plays for Vélez Sársfield in the Argentine Primera División.-Club career:...
and Marinho
Marinho
Marinho may refer to:*Marinho PeresSurname*Carlos Henrique Carneiro Marinho*David Luiz Moreira Marinho*Francisco das Chagas Marinho*Jair Marinho de Oliveira*Marcelo dos Santos Marinho*Manuel Marinho Alves*Roberto Marinho...
. In 2005 Corinthians won the Brazilian title.
The Tévez transfer was brokered by the Argentinian football agent Fernando Hidalgo, who was a partner in the company HAZ Sports with Pini Zahavi
Pini Zahavi
Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi is a football agent who has been involved in some of the most expensive and controversial transfer episodes of recent times....
. Zahavi, responsible for numerous football deals, including the acquisition of Chelsea Football Club by Roman Abramovich
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich is a Russian businessman and the main owner of the private investment company Millhouse LLC.In 2003, Abramovich was named Person of the Year by Expert, a Russian business magazine. He shared this title with Mikhail Khodorkovsky...
, acted as a broker for MSI
Media Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
.
The source of the money behind MSI was a subject of considerable speculation. The Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS
Diario AS
Diario AS is a Spanish daily sports newspaper, concentrating particularly on football.It particularly covers news of the principal Madrid football teams, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, in which it competes directly with MARCA....
suggested that a 15% share was owned by Abramovich, while Joorbachian’s name continued to be linked to that of Berezovsky. In 2005 the Georgian
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
businessman and owner of Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi
FC Dinamo Tbilisi is a Georgian football team, based in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the most prominent clubs in Soviet football and a major contender in the Soviet Top League almost immediately after it was established in 1936...
, Badri Patarkatsishvili
Badri Patarkatsishvili
Arkady "Badri" Patarkatsishvili was a wealthy Georgian businessman, who was also extensively involved in politics. He contested the 2008 Georgian presidential election and came third with 7.1% of the votes...
, a close associate of Berezovsky, told a journalist that they had indeed invested in Corinthians. Joorabchian himself was described by Brazilian authorities as "trying, at all costs, to hide knowledge of the people and businesses involved in the transactions".
In 2007, following allegations that Corinthians had been used to launder money, a Brazilian judge, Faustus Martins de Sanctis, ordered the arrest of Berezovsky, Joorabchian, Nojan Bedroud, cofounder of MSI, and four officials of club, including the chairman, Alberto Dualib
Alberto Dualib
Alberto Dualib is a Turkish-Arabian-Brazilian businessman. Alberto Dualib was Sport Club Corinthians Paulista's chairman between 1993-2007...
. MSI responded by saying that the judge’s actions were "absurd, arbitrary and lacking legal backing", while Joorabchian denied any wrongdoing and maintained that all payments made to Corinthians were "cleared through and approved by the Brazilian Central Bank".
The Brazilian court papers setting out the evidence on which the warrants of arrest were issued stated: “MSI belongs and has always belonged to the accused, Boris Berezovsky”. Berezovsky denied any business connection with Joorabchian or MSI.
In the light of these developments Corinthians broke off their association with MSI in July 2007. There had already been a public deterioration in relations between the directors of the club and its investors centering around the involvement of MSI and Joorabchian in the team's affairs, and the fact that the club had been left owning only five members of the playing squad. Tévez and Mascherano had been transferred to West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
and there had been seven different managers in 18 months. In December 2007 Corinthians were relegated from Brazil's first division.
The warrant for Joorabchian's arrest was suspended by the Brazilian authorities in August 2008.
Tévez, Mascherano and West Ham United
Joorabchian stepped down as president of Media Sports InvestmentsMedia Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
in June 2006. It was reported at the time that Joorabchian retained an investment in Tévez and Mascherano, whose economic rights were described as being owned by MSI. A subsequent Premier League investigation revealed that in February 2006 rights in Tévez had been transferred to MSI and a second company, Just Sports Inc., while Mascherano was jointly owned by Global Soccer Agencies and Mystere Services Ltd. All four companies were represented by Joorabchian.
In August 2006 the two players joined West Ham in the English Premier League. Pini Zahavi assisted in the transfers, revealing to the press that he stood to make money if the players were a success in England. Zahavi had an association over a number of years with Global Soccer Agencies, owners of a half share in Mascherano.
Zahavi also suggested that he had the idea for Joorabchian's proposed takeover of West Ham itself, "Was it my idea? Yes it was," Zahavi said. Joorabchian had investigated the possibility of a takeover of the club the autumn before Tévez and Mascherano moved to West Ham, promising to make £100 million available for new players in a £200 million deal valuing the club and its debts at £75 million. The takeover foundered when it proved impossible to agree a valuation for the club but the possibility was revived following the Tévez/Mascherano transfer. Patarkatsishvili announced that he was considering becoming involved in the bid. In the end no offer resulted and the club was sold to a consortium headed by Eggert Magnusson
Eggert Magnússon
Eggert Magnússon is an Icelandic businessman and former President of the Football Association of Iceland and ex-chairman of West Ham United...
.
Although the capture of Tévez and Mascherano was reported as a major coup for West Ham, the third-party ownership of the players proved highly controversial. At that time the practice was permitted as long as the investing party exercised no influence over the club's playing or transfer policy. It has been reported that Joorabchian in fact retained the power to transfer either player at any time during their contracts.
In April 2007 West Ham was fined a record £5.5 million by the Premier League for entering into third-party contracts whose existence they did not reveal in the knowledge that, in the words of the Premier League's findings, "the FAPL at the very least may not - and in all probability would not - have approved of such contracts". When Tévez was instrumental in West Ham's avoiding relegation at the end of the 2006-7 season the position was legally challenged by the relegated club, Sheffield United, on the ground that Tévez should have been ineligible to play. The claim was eventually settled out of court in March 2009 with West Ham paying Sheffield United £20 million over five years.
Speculation has subsequently linked Joorabchian with the takeover of the football clubs Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
, in early 2007, and Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
, in January 2008.
Transfer of Tévez to Manchester United and then to Manchester City
In August 2007 Carlos TévezCarlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
moved from West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
to Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
. The deal was subject to a protracted dispute with West Ham claiming that the player was registered to them and contracted until June 2010. The Premier League insisted that negotiations should be "done directly" with the club who should receive the fee for any transfer. Joorabchian maintained that MSI
Media Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
and Just Sports Inc retained the economic rights to the player and that the deal had been negotiated with the "knowledge and permission" of West Ham. In a statement issued on behalf of MSI
Media Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
Joorabchian said that West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
had "consistently provided private assurances while at the same time making contrary statements to the public at large".
Asked for a ruling by the Football Association and the Premier League, Fifa
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
judged that the matter should be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...
. MSI and Just Sports Inc then issued a writ in order to "compel West Ham to release the registration of Carlos Tévez in accordance with contracts entered into between the parties".
The threat of action in the High Court was avoided by a settlement that saw West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
receive a fee of £2 million for Tévez's
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
registration. Joorabchian later claimed that West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
agreed to return the money with additional legal costs bringing the total to £2.6 million, apparently contradicting the club’s claim to the Premier League that they would be the beneficiary of the fee.
The terms of the transfer saw Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
agree a two-year deal in which Tévez's
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
registration was leased by the club while his economic rights were retained by his third-party owners. Manchester United paid £3-4 million a year for Tévez’s commercial and football rights for the duration of the lease and secured the first option on a permanent transfer.
In September 2009 Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
signed for Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
in a deal removing him from third-party ownership sometimes reported as being worth £47 million to the companies owning his economic rights, although that amount was disputed by Joorabchian who called the story "inaccurate and misleading".
Legal dispute with West Ham United
In 2008, Joorabchian became engaged in a legal dispute with West Ham UnitedWest Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
over what he said were unmet payments by the club of £4.5 million and £2.6 million relating to Carlos Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
. Joorabchian claimed that he brokered a resolution between West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
and the two companies, MSI
Media Sports Investments
Media Sports Investments is a London-based international investment fund that until June 2006 was headed by the Iranian-born, British-educated, businessman Kia Joorabchian...
and Just Sports Inc, who owned the player's economic rights and who initially refused to cancel that third-party arrangement as requested by the Premier League as part of their findings of April 2007. Potentially Tévez would not have played in the final two games of the 2006-7 season.
Joorabchian stated that the payments were to cover costs, the player’s salary, expenses and a loan fee, as well as £2 million he claimed to have paid to West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
for Tévez’s
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
registration as part of the deal that saw the player transferred to Manchester United in August 2007. Joorabchian's allegation that Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
received a salary and expenses other than that paid to him by West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
, would –were those payments to have been met by a third party– have breached the Premier League's regulations. West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
claimed they were unaware of such payments.
The eventual out-of-court settlement of these proceedings saw Joorabchian engaged as a consultant by West Ham
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
with fees of more than £2 million. In this capacity Joorabchian was critical of transfer dealings made by Eggert Magnusson
Eggert Magnússon
Eggert Magnússon is an Icelandic businessman and former President of the Football Association of Iceland and ex-chairman of West Ham United...
and the club's former manager, Alan Curbishley
Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley is an English football manager and former professional player....
, who resigned saying that transfer policy had been taken out of his hands.
Defence of 'Third-Party' ownership
Tévez'sCarlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
ownership and the role of Joorabchian in English football remained highly controversial throughout the period up to the player's transfer to Manchester City in September 2009. Joorabchian's continued opacity on the question of the identity of those behind the companies he represented was a point of particular discussion.
The heavily criticised involvement of third-parties in the ownership of players was banned by the Premier League for the start of the 2008-9 season. One high-ranking official had called it, "an unedifying trade in young people that rips the heart out of clubs which try to develop players". Joorabchian himself offered a defence of the arrangement, calling it "the South American model and a model that appears all over Europe". In his view third-party transfers are "a way of bringing outstanding players to clubs that would not be able to afford them ordinarily. So they increase the competition", further explaining: "What happens, in Brazil particularly, clubs cannot afford to buy a player. So they go to a business, a bank, a major supermarket, an individual, a person, a wealthy individual and say: 'We want Mr X. You put up 70, 80, 100 per cent of the money, let him play here.' It is a little bit like a loan deal between two clubs, except it is a loan deal between the club and a third party".
Joorabchian also claimed that concealed third-party ownership arrangements were common in the Premier League, saying in 2007: "I know a lot of players in the Premier League - and other leagues - which are here in the same format as we have done, but in a hidden scheme".
Connection to Manchester City
In January 2009 it emerged that Joorabchian had been present at a meeting between representatives of Manchester CityManchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
, arranged to discuss the possible -although in the end unsuccessful- £91 million transfer to City of the Brazilian footballer, Kaká
Kaká
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite , commonly known as Kaká , is a Brazilian football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Kaká started his footballing career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club...
.
Press reports connected Joorabchian to City's signing of Robinho
Robinho
Robson de Souza , more commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays as second striker and winger for Serie A club AC Milan...
in 2008 and suggested that he was exercising a wider influence over the shape of City's transfer policy, specifically in attempting to bring a single megastar to the club to reflect a changed status under the ownership of Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is a United Arab Emirati politician and member of ruling family of Abu Dhabi . He is the half brother of the current President of UAE, Emir of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan...
, rather than build a side of proven Premier League performers. Joorabchian admitted to having an informal association with Manchester City in October 2008.
Sources at Manchester City suggested that Joorabchian and Pini Zahavi
Pini Zahavi
Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi is a football agent who has been involved in some of the most expensive and controversial transfer episodes of recent times....
had developed links to the club under the regime of the previous owner, Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
, who had originally appointed the City chief executive Garry Cook
Garry Cook
Garry Cook is a former British athlete, who competed mainly in the 800 metres with a best time of 1:44.55.He competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the Silver medal with his team mates Kriss Akabusi, Todd...
. Cook himself said that the club "did not need and did not seek" Joorabchian's help in facilitating the negotiations with A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
. Joorabchian was involved in the leaking of Carlos Tevez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
's transfer request to Manchester City on 11th December 2010, by revealing the news to the Sunday Mirror
Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...
newspaper.
Involvement with Ramires
In June 2010, it was reported that Joorabchian had secured a 50% share in the Brazilian midfielder RamiresRamires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento , commonly Ramires and Rambo, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chelsea and the Brazilian national side. In 2008, he won a Bronze medal in the XXIX Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China...
, then at Benfica but subject to transfer interest from across Europe, led by Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in the Premier League. The deal was reportedly part of an agreement reached with Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira
Luís Filipe Vieira
Luís Filipe Vieira Ferreira , also known as "LFV" in Portugal, is a Portuguese businessman who is currently the chairman of Portuguese sports club Benfica...
the previous year at the time of Ramires's
Ramires
Ramires Santos do Nascimento , commonly Ramires and Rambo, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chelsea and the Brazilian national side. In 2008, he won a Bronze medal in the XXIX Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China...
transfer to Benfica from Cruzeiro
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube is a Brazilian football team, from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Internacional. Founded on January 2, 1921, they are only one of three clubs to have participated in...
in Brazil. A further 30% of the player's rights were reportedly owned by Joorabchian's associate Pini Zahavi
Pini Zahavi
Pinhas "Pini" Zahavi is a football agent who has been involved in some of the most expensive and controversial transfer episodes of recent times....
.
Ramires completed his move to Chelsea on 13 August 2010 on a four year contract for a reported fee of £17million. It is thought that Joorabchian would receive £6m of this fee.
Newcastle United
On the 12th of January 2010, it was reported by outlets such as ESPNESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
that Joorabchian had been appointed to the position of "Football Advisor" at the club, and would be leading a clear-out of players, bringing in talented youth from around the world.
Other business interests
An analysis of Joorabchian's other business interests undertaken by the Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
in 2006 suggested that he was at that time a director of 10 UK companies, many of them lossmaking, including Karmaa Racing, a horse racing company, and Karmaa, a kick-boxing club in Chalk Farm, London. His largest listed interest was at that time a car dealership, Greens of Rainham.