Pini Zahavi
Encyclopedia
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 developed his close connections with football in his native Israel
into an unprecedented network of associations and friendships across the footballing world that brought him extraordinary success. His involvement in the change of ownership of Chelsea
and Portsmouth
gave him a reputation as an agent who could trade not only players but football clubs themselves. His success has led to his being described as "football's first and only super agent
" and as "football's great svengali". Zahavi himself played down the complexities of the role, saying: "I just bring people together and I get paid my commission if a deal is struck".
He is licensed as a football agent
from his offices in Tel Aviv
through the Israel Football Association
.
Zahavi is a widower with two children. He lives modestly in a seaside apartment in the north of Tel Aviv
and rents a flat in Marble Arch
, London. He is the great uncle of footballer Alex Zahavi
.
, owner of Maccabi Haifa
, has been his friend since they were in school together as children.
Zahavi grew up with a love of football, playing for the local team and coaching its youth side before his National Service in the army. He abandoned a university economics course after the first year and instead began a career as a football journalist. He worked for the Israeli newspapers Hadashot Hasport, Yedioth Ahronoth
-where he expanded the paper's sports coverage- and Hadashot
.
Journalism provided Zahavi with invaluable opportunities to develop extensive contacts within football. He described the helpfulness of the World Cup of 1974 in meeting people and building friendships. He was assiduous in cultivating these connections, organising friendly internationals in Israel, inviting players, including Graeme Souness
and Kenny Dalglish
, to holiday at his villa in Eilat, and even taking Israeli oranges to Melwood, Liverpool's training ground, as a gift for players and staff.
Zahavi's first transfer deal was undertaken in 1979 when he helped arrange the Israeli defender Avi Cohen
's move from Maccabi Tel Aviv
to Liverpool
for £200,000. Zahavi, who traveled to England regularly to watch football, recommended Cohen to Liverpool
when he saw Peter Robinson, then the secretary of the club, at Heathrow airport during a delay caused by fog. The player had got to know Zahavi through his coverage of Maccabi Tel Aviv
in Yedioth Ahronoth
. Zahavi was paid an introduction fee for his part in the deal.
A year later Zahavi arranged a loan move to Maccabi Tel Aviv
by the Manchester City player Barry Silkman
, with whom Zahavi would be later associated when Silkman
became a football agent
.
Zahavi continued in journalism until 1988 and then, in 1990, negotiated the transfer of another Israeli player, forward Ronnie Rosenthal, from Standard Liège
to Liverpool
. Kenny Dalglish
was by then Liverpool
's manager.
striker Marcelo Salas
.
In English football his contacts were extensive, his friendships included not just Souness and Dalglish
but also Terry Venables
, Ron Atkinson
and Alex Ferguson
, as well as many more among the next generation of managers and players. "In England, as I was emerging," Zahavi explained, "there were managers who did not know anything about European players. You couldn't even find the results of European leagues in the papers. It was a desert island and they couldn't care less about the world game. I was able to help change attitudes."
Zahavi himself identified as one of his most important deals the transfer that took Israeli midfielder Eyal Berkovic
from Southampton
to West Ham in 1997. Zahavi's association with Berkovic
had already been responsible for the player's move from Maccabi Haifa
to English football at Southampton
, then being managed by Zahavi's friend, Graeme Souness
.
The importance of the West Ham deal, however, was that it was brought Zahavi into contact with Rio Ferdinand
, whom Zahavi has subsequently described as being "like a son to him". Zahavi said that Ferdinand
approached him at West Ham's training ground having asked Berkovic
because "he had a feeling he would be better with an international agent like me than a local agent".
Zahavi handled the transfer that took Ferdinand
from West Ham to Leeds United for £18 million in 2000, and then his £30 million transfer from Leeds to Manchester United in 2002. As part of that deal Zahavi was himself paid £1.13 million.
Zahavi was a friend of the Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson
, whom he had first got to know in the late 1980s, and by the time of the Ferdinand transfer he was responsible for brokering almost every major Manchester United deal, including the sale of Jaap Stam
to Lazio
for £16.5 million and the purchase of Juan Sebastián Verón
from the same club for £28.1 million in 2001. Verón
had been signed for Lazio
by another friend of Zahavi's, Sven-Göran Eriksson
, whom he knew first as a young coach at Benfica.
's acquisition of Chelsea Football Club
, and to the influx of players that followed. Zahavi became an influential member of Abramovich's inner circle and was estimated to have earned as much as £5 million from the £111 million Chelsea
spent on players that summer.
Zahavi had been able to develop contacts in Russia
and the old Soviet Union
through his close links to important figures in Israel
's immigrant community, and particularly through one of his closest friends, the businessman Eli Azur, among whose interests are a number of Russian-language newspapers in Israel
. In 1980 Zahavi was the first non-communist Israeli to obtain a visa to the Soviet Union, nurturing his connections over 20 years of regular trips to Moscow and Kiev, where he came to know Valery Lobanovsky, then manager of Dynamo Kiev.
In 1998 Zahavi had been introduced to Abramovich in Moscow by a mutual friend and so was able to provide an introduction when he was approached by Trevor Birch, the chief executive of the heavily indebted Chelsea
, who were on the verge of being unable to pay their players' wages. Abramovich had previously considered buying Manchester United and then Tottenham Hotspur.
After the takeover Ken Bates
, the previous owner of Chelsea
and at that point still chairman of the club, described Zahavi by using a strongly pejorative term, leading Zahavi to respond that Bates
was a "revolting character" who ought to "wake up every morning praying to God and thanking him that Pini Zahavi saved him from bankruptcy and put £19 million in his pocket".
In the summer of 2003, Zahavi was swept up in the furore surrounding a possible move to Chelsea
by the then England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson
. Eriksson
was pictured attending a meeting with Roman Abramovich
and Zahavi, and then the following March was seen visiting the home of the club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon
. Zahavi responded to the blizzard of press speculation by saying “What’s the big secret? This has all been going on for months. What has Sven done wrong by meeting Peter Kenyon? I can’t see what the fuss is all about."
Zahavi's closeness to Eriksson
gave added interest to comments he made to the press about the England football team
's performance at the 2006 World Cup, when the by-then-departed Eriksson
was in charge of the side. Zahavi said: "If Eriksson would ever tell the whole story, and I've talked about it with him a lot, everybody would understand what was going on inside the England dressing room", going on to suggest that there were internal problems within the England squad centred around the status and treatment of David Beckham
, who had captained the side at that tournament.
recommended that Zahavi be investigated by the responsible bodies for his part in the 'tapping-up' of the Arsenal
left back Ashley Cole
, who was approached by Chelsea
in contravention of Premier League regulations.
The independent commission established by the Premier League to investigate the incident after an official complaint by Arsenal
concluded that Zahavi, and Cole
's agent, Jonathan Barnett
, had extended an invitation to Chelsea
, to which the club had responded. Zahavi and Barnett were then present at the Royal Park Hotel in London on 27 January 2005 when Cole met the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho
, and club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon
.
Chelsea
, Mourinho
and Cole
were all fined for their part in the affair, while Barnett
was fined £100,000 and had his licence suspended by the Football Association for 18 months, later reduced to a 12-month ban. Neither the F.A. nor the Premier League had any jurisdiction over Zahavi but referred the matter to FIFA
, whose investigation was -as of October 2009- ongoing. Zahavi maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing, claiming that "at that time I did not represent Chelsea or Ashley Cole".
In April 2005 Zahavi denied that Chelsea
had been engaged in an illegal approach to the Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand
when it emerged
that the defender had met Zahavi and Chelsea
's chief executive Peter Kenyon at Carpaccio, a restaurant in Chelsea
, meeting again at the Elysee Greek eatery near Tottenham Court Road
hours later. Chelsea
denied any approach had been made, although the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson
, accused the former United executive Kenyon of treating his former club with "contempt". Zahavi called the story "the joke of the century" and further denied that the meetings were an attempt to pressure Manchester United into improving their offered contract to Ferdinand
-negotiations on a contract extension were then underway. Zahavi said, "I could find 10 million other ways. I could arrange that clubs bid for him."
. Earlier in his career Zahavi had paved the way for the takeover of Beitar Jerusalem by Gaydamak
's father, the Russian-Israeli businessman Arkady Gaydamak.
, carried out by Lord Stevens
into irregular transfer payments, refused to sign-off on five deals in which he was involved.
The transfers in question were:
The report criticised Zahavi, saying:
"There was an initial failure to disclose his involvement in a number of transfers but, more seriously, he has failed to provide the inquiry with complete bank statements due to the confidential nature of them. There has been a lack of responsiveness from Zahavi. There remain questions relating to his relationship with and payments to Barry Silkman
and Barry Silkman's failure to initially disclose his involvement in all the transactions in which he received fees."
Zahavi's association with Barry Silkman
went back to his time as a player and the two men had retained the connection once Silkman
became an agent
. Silkman
once said of Zahavi, "I owe him my position in football, the house I live in, everything", calling him "a trusted friend".
Zahavi responded by saying that he had co-operated fully with the inquiry and described the claims as "false, misleading, groundless and legally invalid". He demanded an apology and was reported to be considering taking legal action, calling the report "the joke of the century" and saying "I am an honest man full of integrity and this lot have treated me like a criminal".
In January 2008 it was reported that Zahavi was set to be cleared by the Football Association after their follow-up inquiries received his full co-operation.
from Portsmouth
to Middlesbrough
also came under press scrutiny for the size of Zahavi's payment as part of that deal. Zahavi agreed a fee of £3.64 million with Middlesbrough
chief executive Keith Lamb, to be paid in ten installments over five years if Yakubu
remained at the club. The amount was the largest agent fee disclosed in English football and was regarded as being extraordinary.
As part of the deal Zahavi made payments to Barry Silkman
, the agent
who is understood to have spotted Yakubu
's potential when he was playing in Nigeria
and to have been responsible for the $500,000 transfer that took the player to Maccabi Haifa
in 1999. Maccabi Haifa
are owned by Zahavi's school friend Ya'akov Shahar
. There Yakubu
made an international reputation and Zahavi acted as his agent when he moved to Portsmouth
in April 2003.
Zahavi himself defended the practice of third-party ownership as a way of spreading the risk of investing large sums in a player, declaring that it was common in South America
and necessary "if English football is to survive". He suggested: "In England they don't understand it at all. It's easier to buy a player who you are unsure about for £10m if you are sharing the risk with a partner. Now, if the player becomes top-drawer and is sold for £30m, then of course you may feel stupid only to own half. But if the player turns out to be merely average or a failure, if he cannot even be sold, you will say, 'Fantastic, the disaster was not only mine'. That's exactly the way it works."
Zahavi acted as a broker to Media Sports Investments
, who attracted considerable attention for its third-party ownership of the Argentinian international, Carlos Tévez
, and for its brief control of Corinthians
in Brazil
, where it was heavily involved in the third-party ownership of players. MSI was headed by Zahavi's friend Kia Joorabchian
.
Tévez
's transfer from Boca Juniors
to Corinthians
was brokered by the Argentinian football agent Fernando Hidalgo, Zahavi's partner in the company HAZ Sports based in Buenos Aires
, and Zahavi was involved in the deals that took Tévez
and Javier Mascherano from Corinthians
to West Ham United in 2006. Zahavi had a close association over a number of years with the company Global Soccer Agencies that owned a half share in Mascherano at that time.
Commenting on the Tévez
and Javier Mascherano transfers Zahavi said: "If the players are a big success I make money. Not just if they leave West Ham in the future but if they do well at West Ham. That said, I would be involved in any transfer. But if they stay at West Ham and they are successful I will be one of the beneficiaries."
Zahavi also suggested that he had the idea for the takeover of West Ham United in 2006 by unrevealed investors represented by Kia Joorabchian
, although the deal was never completed. He denied being an investor himself in the project:
"I am not involved in the takeover. The deal has nothing to do with me. But it is true that I look for the right investor and then I look for the right place for them to invest. Was it my idea? Yes it was. But it could have been Kia, you or President Bush. I just bring people together and I get paid my commission if a deal is struck. It was the same with Portsmouth and Chelsea."
In 2006 Zahavi he was engaged as a consultant to the Hero Football Fund, established by investors to raise £100 million to purchase shares in young professional footballers, although the fund did not proceed with its association with Zahavi because of the possibility of a conflict of interests.
In June 2010 it was reported that Zahavi owned 30% of the rights to Benfica's Brazilian midfielder, Ramires
, a transfer target of Chelsea
. Kia Joorabchian
reportedly owned a further 50% share of the rights to the player.
for major sports, including those of the English Premier League and the top flight of Israel's domestic football. The decision of the company to broadcast the 2006 World Cup
in Germany through a pay-per-view offering proved very unpopular in Israel
, leading to a boycott of the service and compromising Zahavi's reputation in the country. He is also holds actions of HAZ Racing Team, one of the top motorsport teams in Argentina
(actually the "Z" on HAZ comes from his last name).
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
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...
who has been involved in some of the most expensive and controversial transfer episodes of recent times.
Zahavi developed his close connections with football in his native Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
into an unprecedented network of associations and friendships across the footballing world that brought him extraordinary success. His involvement in the change of ownership of 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...
and Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
gave him a reputation as an agent who could trade not only players but football clubs themselves. His success has led to his being described as "football's first and only super 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...
" and as "football's great svengali". Zahavi himself played down the complexities of the role, saying: "I just bring people together and I get paid my commission if a deal is struck".
He is licensed 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...
from his offices in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
through the Israel Football Association
Israel Football Association
The Israel Football Association , also known as IFA, is the governing body of football in Israel. It organizes the football leagues, Israeli Premier League, Israeli State Cup, Toto Cup and the Israeli national football team. The association is based in Ramat Gan...
.
Zahavi is a widower with two children. He lives modestly in a seaside apartment in the north of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and rents a flat in Marble Arch
Marble Arch
Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument that now stands on a large traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane, and Edgware Road, almost directly opposite Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park in London, England...
, London. He is the great uncle of footballer Alex Zahavi
Alex Zahavi
Alexander "Alex" Abraham Zahavi is a soccer player currently playing for Portuguese club Vitória F.C. on loan from Maccabi Haifa. Zahavi was born in the United States but is the son of a Portuguese mother and Israeli father. He has represented Portugal at the U17 level but he is considering...
.
Early Career in Journalism and First Transfer Dealings
Pini Zahavi is the son of a shopkeeper who sold building materials to local tradesmen. He has two elder sisters and a brother who is a successful heart surgeon. Ya'akov ShaharYa'akov Shahar
Ya'akov Shahar is an Israeli businessman best known for his ownership of Maccabi Haifa F.C..Before he went into business, Shahar played football for the youth team of Sektzia Nes Tziona and was about to play for the senior side but suffered a serious injury.-Holdings:Techtium Ltd...
, owner of Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa F.C.
Maccabi Haifa Football Club is an Israeli football team from the city of Haifa, a section of Maccabi Haifa sports club. The club has won 12 championships, 5 State Cups and 4 Toto Cups...
, has been his friend since they were in school together as children.
Zahavi grew up with a love of football, playing for the local team and coaching its youth side before his National Service in the army. He abandoned a university economics course after the first year and instead began a career as a football journalist. He worked for the Israeli newspapers Hadashot Hasport, Yedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...
-where he expanded the paper's sports coverage- and Hadashot
Hadashot
Hadashot was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Israel between 1984 and 1993.-History:On 4 March 1984 Haaretz Group CEO Amos Schocken announced that a new daily newspaper, Hadashot was to be launched, with Yossi Klein as editor...
.
Journalism provided Zahavi with invaluable opportunities to develop extensive contacts within football. He described the helpfulness of the World Cup of 1974 in meeting people and building friendships. He was assiduous in cultivating these connections, organising friendly internationals in Israel, inviting players, including Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...
and Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
, to holiday at his villa in Eilat, and even taking Israeli oranges to Melwood, Liverpool's training ground, as a gift for players and staff.
Zahavi's first transfer deal was undertaken in 1979 when he helped arrange the Israeli defender Avi Cohen
Avi Cohen
Avraham "Avi" Cohen was an Israeli footballer who played as a defender. He was best known for his spell playing for Liverpool in England. After retirement from active football and management, he was the chairman of the Israel Professional Footballers Association for over five years until he was...
's move from Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv is the biggest sports club in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs many sports club and teams in Tel Aviv, which compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, judo, swimming, handball, and others....
to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
for £200,000. Zahavi, who traveled to England regularly to watch football, recommended Cohen to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
when he saw Peter Robinson, then the secretary of the club, at Heathrow airport during a delay caused by fog. The player had got to know Zahavi through his coverage of Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv is the biggest sports club in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs many sports club and teams in Tel Aviv, which compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, judo, swimming, handball, and others....
in Yedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth
Yedioth Ahronoth is a daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since the 1970s, it has been the most widely circulated paper in Israel. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Yedioth Ahronoth retained the title of most widely read newspaper in Israel...
. Zahavi was paid an introduction fee for his part in the deal.
A year later Zahavi arranged a loan move to Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv
Maccabi Tel Aviv is the biggest sports club in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs many sports club and teams in Tel Aviv, which compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, judo, swimming, handball, and others....
by the Manchester City player Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
, with whom Zahavi would be later associated when Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
became 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...
.
Zahavi continued in journalism until 1988 and then, in 1990, negotiated the transfer of another Israeli player, forward Ronnie Rosenthal, from Standard Liège
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (Dutch: Standard Luik [], German: Standard Lüttich , is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège....
to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
. Kenny Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
was by then Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
's manager.
Early Dealings and Rio Ferdinand
Zahavi's influence grew through the 90s, particularly from dealings in South America where he dealt with, among others, the ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
striker Marcelo Salas
Marcelo Salas
José Marcelo Salas Melinao , better known as El Matador, Shileno or simply Marcelo Salas, is a former football player from Chile. He, along with world cup veterans, 3 time Best Player of America Elías Figueroa and former Real Madrid and Inter Milan forward Iván Zamorano, has been one of Chile's...
.
In English football his contacts were extensive, his friendships included not just Souness and Dalglish
Kenny Dalglish
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish MBE is a Scottish former footballer and the current manager of Liverpool F.C.. In a 22-year playing career, he played for two club teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning numerous honours with both. He is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances, and...
but also Terry Venables
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables , often referred to as "El Tel", is a former football player and manager, as well as being a media pundit. During the 1960s and 70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, and gained two caps for England...
, Ron Atkinson
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...
and Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
, as well as many more among the next generation of managers and players. "In England, as I was emerging," Zahavi explained, "there were managers who did not know anything about European players. You couldn't even find the results of European leagues in the papers. It was a desert island and they couldn't care less about the world game. I was able to help change attitudes."
Zahavi himself identified as one of his most important deals the transfer that took Israeli midfielder Eyal Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic is an Israeli former footballer. He played as a midfielder.He is known in Israel by the nickname Ha-Kosem ....
from 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...
to West Ham in 1997. Zahavi's association with Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic is an Israeli former footballer. He played as a midfielder.He is known in Israel by the nickname Ha-Kosem ....
had already been responsible for the player's move from Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa is a sports club in Israel, founded in 1913, and part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Weightlifting, swimming, Tennis, Table tennis, Volleyball, Team handball,...
to English football at 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...
, then being managed by Zahavi's friend, Graeme Souness
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness is a Scottish former professional football player and manager.Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s and player-manager of Rangers in the late 1980s as well as captain of the Scottish national team. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur,...
.
The importance of the West Ham deal, however, was that it was brought Zahavi into contact with Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
, whom Zahavi has subsequently described as being "like a son to him". Zahavi said that Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
approached him at West Ham's training ground having asked Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic
Eyal Berkovic is an Israeli former footballer. He played as a midfielder.He is known in Israel by the nickname Ha-Kosem ....
because "he had a feeling he would be better with an international agent like me than a local agent".
Zahavi handled the transfer that took Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
from West Ham to Leeds United for £18 million in 2000, and then his £30 million transfer from Leeds to Manchester United in 2002. As part of that deal Zahavi was himself paid £1.13 million.
Zahavi was a friend of the Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
, whom he had first got to know in the late 1980s, and by the time of the Ferdinand transfer he was responsible for brokering almost every major Manchester United deal, including the sale of Jaap Stam
Jaap Stam
Jakob "Jaap" Stam is a retired Dutch football player who was twice voted best defender in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. He played for several European clubs like PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, S.S. Lazio, A.C. Milan and AFC Ajax before retiring in October 2007...
to Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
for £16.5 million and the purchase of Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón is an Argentinian professional football player who is the current captain and midfielder for Estudiantes de La Plata in the Argentine Primera División....
from the same club for £28.1 million in 2001. Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón
Juan Sebastián Verón is an Argentinian professional football player who is the current captain and midfielder for Estudiantes de La Plata in the Argentine Primera División....
had been signed for Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
by another friend of Zahavi's, Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
, whom he knew first as a young coach at Benfica.
Roman Abramovich and Chelsea
In 2003 Zahavi was central to Roman AbramovichRoman 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...
's acquisition of Chelsea Football Club
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...
, and to the influx of players that followed. Zahavi became an influential member of Abramovich's inner circle and was estimated to have earned as much as £5 million from the £111 million 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...
spent on players that summer.
Zahavi had been able to develop contacts in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the old Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
through his close links to important figures in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's immigrant community, and particularly through one of his closest friends, the businessman Eli Azur, among whose interests are a number of Russian-language newspapers in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In 1980 Zahavi was the first non-communist Israeli to obtain a visa to the Soviet Union, nurturing his connections over 20 years of regular trips to Moscow and Kiev, where he came to know Valery Lobanovsky, then manager of Dynamo Kiev.
In 1998 Zahavi had been introduced to Abramovich in Moscow by a mutual friend and so was able to provide an introduction when he was approached by Trevor Birch, the chief executive of the heavily indebted 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...
, who were on the verge of being unable to pay their players' wages. Abramovich had previously considered buying Manchester United and then Tottenham Hotspur.
After the takeover Ken Bates
Ken Bates
Kenneth William Bates is a British businessman and football executive. The current chairman and now owner of Leeds United AFC, Bates was previously chairman and majority shareholder of Chelsea FC from 1982 until 2003....
, the previous owner of 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...
and at that point still chairman of the club, described Zahavi by using a strongly pejorative term, leading Zahavi to respond that Bates
Ken Bates
Kenneth William Bates is a British businessman and football executive. The current chairman and now owner of Leeds United AFC, Bates was previously chairman and majority shareholder of Chelsea FC from 1982 until 2003....
was a "revolting character" who ought to "wake up every morning praying to God and thanking him that Pini Zahavi saved him from bankruptcy and put £19 million in his pocket".
In the summer of 2003, Zahavi was swept up in the furore surrounding a possible move to 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...
by the then England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
. Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
was pictured attending a meeting with 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...
and Zahavi, and then the following March was seen visiting the home of the club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon
Peter Kenyon
Peter Kenyon is a British businessman who has served as the chief executive of English Premier League clubs Manchester United Football Club and Chelsea Football Club, where he has been involved in contentious transfer dealings.-Early life:Kenyon was educated in Tameside at West Hill...
. Zahavi responded to the blizzard of press speculation by saying “What’s the big secret? This has all been going on for months. What has Sven done wrong by meeting Peter Kenyon? I can’t see what the fuss is all about."
Zahavi's closeness to Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
gave added interest to comments he made to the press about the England football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
's performance at the 2006 World Cup, when the by-then-departed Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
was in charge of the side. Zahavi said: "If Eriksson would ever tell the whole story, and I've talked about it with him a lot, everybody would understand what was going on inside the England dressing room", going on to suggest that there were internal problems within the England squad centred around the status and treatment of David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
, who had captained the side at that tournament.
Tapping-up of Ashley Cole
In 2005 the English Football AssociationThe Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
recommended that Zahavi be investigated by the responsible bodies for his part in the 'tapping-up' of the 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...
left back Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
, who was approached 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 contravention of Premier League regulations.
The independent commission established by the Premier League to investigate the incident after an official complaint by 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...
concluded that Zahavi, and Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
's agent, Jonathan Barnett
Jonathan Barnett
Jonathan Barnett is a football agent and is the chairman and founder of Stellar Group Limited. He is credited as being the man who brought Lennox Lewis into the boxing world....
, had extended an invitation to 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...
, to which the club had responded. Zahavi and Barnett were then present at the Royal Park Hotel in London on 27 January 2005 when Cole met the Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho
José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....
, and club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon
Peter Kenyon
Peter Kenyon is a British businessman who has served as the chief executive of English Premier League clubs Manchester United Football Club and Chelsea Football Club, where he has been involved in contentious transfer dealings.-Early life:Kenyon was educated in Tameside at West Hill...
.
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...
, Mourinho
José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho is a Portuguese football manager and the current manager of Real Madrid. He is commonly known as "The Special One".Mourinho is regarded by some players, coaches and critics as the best ever coach in football....
and Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
were all fined for their part in the affair, while Barnett
Jonathan Barnett
Jonathan Barnett is a football agent and is the chairman and founder of Stellar Group Limited. He is credited as being the man who brought Lennox Lewis into the boxing world....
was fined £100,000 and had his licence suspended by the Football Association for 18 months, later reduced to a 12-month ban. Neither the F.A. nor the Premier League had any jurisdiction over Zahavi but referred the matter to 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...
, whose investigation was -as of October 2009- ongoing. Zahavi maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing, claiming that "at that time I did not represent Chelsea or Ashley Cole".
In April 2005 Zahavi denied that 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...
had been engaged in an illegal approach to the Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
when it emerged
that the defender had met Zahavi and 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...
's chief executive Peter Kenyon at Carpaccio, a restaurant in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, meeting again at the Elysee Greek eatery near Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road is a major road in central London, United Kingdom, running from St Giles Circus north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile...
hours later. 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...
denied any approach had been made, although the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
, accused the former United executive Kenyon of treating his former club with "contempt". Zahavi called the story "the joke of the century" and further denied that the meetings were an attempt to pressure Manchester United into improving their offered contract to Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
-negotiations on a contract extension were then underway. Zahavi said, "I could find 10 million other ways. I could arrange that clubs bid for him."
Portsmouth
In January 2006 Zahavi facilitated the takeover of Portsmouth Football Club by Alexandre GaydamakAlexandre Gaydamak
Alexandre "Sacha" Gaydamak is a French businessman of Russian Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and also holds an Israeli passport. A member of the wealthy Gaydamak family, he is the son of Arcadi Gaydamak....
. Earlier in his career Zahavi had paved the way for the takeover of Beitar Jerusalem by Gaydamak
Alexandre Gaydamak
Alexandre "Sacha" Gaydamak is a French businessman of Russian Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and also holds an Israeli passport. A member of the wealthy Gaydamak family, he is the son of Arcadi Gaydamak....
's father, the Russian-Israeli businessman Arkady Gaydamak.
Inquiry Into Football Corruption
In June 2007 Zahavi was embroiled in controversy when the final report of an Premier League investigation2006 allegations of corruption in English football
In 2006, several allegations were made of corruption in English football by sources inside and outside of the game.-January - Managers:In January 2006, then Luton Town manager, Mike Newell and then-manager of Queens Park Rangers, Ian Holloway alleged that backhanders were rife in the sport.The...
, carried out by Lord Stevens
John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington KStJ QPM DL FRSA was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief Constable of Northumbria Police before being appointed one of HM Inspectors of Constabulary in September 1996...
into irregular transfer payments, refused to sign-off on five deals in which he was involved.
The transfers in question were:
- Didier DrogbaDidier DrogbaDidier Yves Drogba Tébily is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he is deputy vice-captain, and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team...
, from MarseilleOlympique de MarseilleOlympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
to ChelseaChelsea 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...
for £24 million, 20 July 2004; - Petr ČechPetr CechPetr Čech is a Czech footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Czech Republic as a goalkeeper. Čech previously played for Viktoria Plzeň, Chmel Blšany, Sparta Prague, and Rennes. He was voted into the all-star team of Euro 2004 after helping his country reach the semi-finals...
, from RennesStade Rennais FCStade Rennais Football Club is a French association football club based in Rennes. The club was founded in 1901 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Rennes plays its home matches at the Stade de la Route de Lorient located within the city...
to ChelseaChelsea 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...
for £7 million, 1 June 2004; - Collins MbesumaCollins MbesumaCollins Mbesuma is a Zambian footballer. He is nicknamed The Hurricane or Ntofontofo.-Career:Mbesuma was born in Luanshya...
, from Kaizer Chiefs to PortsmouthPortsmouth F.C.Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
for £808,171, August 2005; - Fabio RochembackFábio RochembackFábio Rochemback is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays for Grêmio. He is a versatile midfielder who can play in front of the defense, as an attacking midfielder, or even as a winger...
, from Barcelona to MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough F.C.Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
on a free transfer, 31 August 2005; and - Yakubu AiyegbeniYakubu AiyegbeniYakubu Aiyegbeni , generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and the Nigerian national football team. His nickname is "The Yak".-Early career:...
, from PortsmouthPortsmouth F.C.Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
to MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough F.C.Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
for £7.5 million, 4 July 2005.
The report criticised Zahavi, saying:
"There was an initial failure to disclose his involvement in a number of transfers but, more seriously, he has failed to provide the inquiry with complete bank statements due to the confidential nature of them. There has been a lack of responsiveness from Zahavi. There remain questions relating to his relationship with and payments to Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
and Barry Silkman's failure to initially disclose his involvement in all the transactions in which he received fees."
Zahavi's association with Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
went back to his time as a player and the two men had retained the connection once Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
became an 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...
. Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
once said of Zahavi, "I owe him my position in football, the house I live in, everything", calling him "a trusted friend".
Zahavi responded by saying that he had co-operated fully with the inquiry and described the claims as "false, misleading, groundless and legally invalid". He demanded an apology and was reported to be considering taking legal action, calling the report "the joke of the century" and saying "I am an honest man full of integrity and this lot have treated me like a criminal".
In January 2008 it was reported that Zahavi was set to be cleared by the Football Association after their follow-up inquiries received his full co-operation.
Yakubu Transfer
The transfer of Yakubu AiyegbeniYakubu Aiyegbeni
Yakubu Aiyegbeni , generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and the Nigerian national football team. His nickname is "The Yak".-Early career:...
from Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
to Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
also came under press scrutiny for the size of Zahavi's payment as part of that deal. Zahavi agreed a fee of £3.64 million with Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
chief executive Keith Lamb, to be paid in ten installments over five years if Yakubu
Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Yakubu Aiyegbeni , generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and the Nigerian national football team. His nickname is "The Yak".-Early career:...
remained at the club. The amount was the largest agent fee disclosed in English football and was regarded as being extraordinary.
As part of the deal Zahavi made payments to Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman
Barry Silkman, is an English former footballer who had a brief spell in midfield at Manchester City in 1979 and a longer one at Leyton Orient .-Playing career:...
, the 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...
who is understood to have spotted Yakubu
Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Yakubu Aiyegbeni , generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and the Nigerian national football team. His nickname is "The Yak".-Early career:...
's potential when he was playing in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
and to have been responsible for the $500,000 transfer that took the player to Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa F.C.
Maccabi Haifa Football Club is an Israeli football team from the city of Haifa, a section of Maccabi Haifa sports club. The club has won 12 championships, 5 State Cups and 4 Toto Cups...
in 1999. Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa F.C.
Maccabi Haifa Football Club is an Israeli football team from the city of Haifa, a section of Maccabi Haifa sports club. The club has won 12 championships, 5 State Cups and 4 Toto Cups...
are owned by Zahavi's school friend Ya'akov Shahar
Ya'akov Shahar
Ya'akov Shahar is an Israeli businessman best known for his ownership of Maccabi Haifa F.C..Before he went into business, Shahar played football for the youth team of Sektzia Nes Tziona and was about to play for the senior side but suffered a serious injury.-Holdings:Techtium Ltd...
. There Yakubu
Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Yakubu Aiyegbeni , generally known simply as Yakubu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and the Nigerian national football team. His nickname is "The Yak".-Early career:...
made an international reputation and Zahavi acted as his agent when he moved to Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
in April 2003.
Third-party Ownership and West Ham United
Zahavi was also associated with the third-party ownership of footballers, a practice regarded as controversial, particularly in English football where it was banned by the Premier League for the start of the 2008-9 season.Zahavi himself defended the practice of third-party ownership as a way of spreading the risk of investing large sums in a player, declaring that it was common in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and necessary "if English football is to survive". He suggested: "In England they don't understand it at all. It's easier to buy a player who you are unsure about for £10m if you are sharing the risk with a partner. Now, if the player becomes top-drawer and is sold for £30m, then of course you may feel stupid only to own half. But if the player turns out to be merely average or a failure, if he cannot even be sold, you will say, 'Fantastic, the disaster was not only mine'. That's exactly the way it works."
Zahavi acted as a broker to Media Sports Investments
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...
, who attracted considerable attention for its third-party ownership of the Argentinian international, Carlos Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
, and for its brief control 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...
in 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...
, where it was heavily involved in the third-party ownership of players. MSI was headed by Zahavi's friend Kia Joorabchian
Kia Joorabchian
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...
.
Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
's transfer 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....
to 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 brokered by the Argentinian football agent Fernando Hidalgo, Zahavi's partner in the company HAZ Sports based in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, and Zahavi was involved in the deals that took Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
and Javier Mascherano from 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...
to West Ham United in 2006. Zahavi had a close association over a number of years with the company Global Soccer Agencies that owned a half share in Mascherano at that time.
Commenting on the Tévez
Carlos Tévez
Carlos Alberto Tévez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Manchester City...
and Javier Mascherano transfers Zahavi said: "If the players are a big success I make money. Not just if they leave West Ham in the future but if they do well at West Ham. That said, I would be involved in any transfer. But if they stay at West Ham and they are successful I will be one of the beneficiaries."
Zahavi also suggested that he had the idea for the takeover of West Ham United in 2006 by unrevealed investors represented by Kia Joorabchian
Kia Joorabchian
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...
, although the deal was never completed. He denied being an investor himself in the project:
"I am not involved in the takeover. The deal has nothing to do with me. But it is true that I look for the right investor and then I look for the right place for them to invest. Was it my idea? Yes it was. But it could have been Kia, you or President Bush. I just bring people together and I get paid my commission if a deal is struck. It was the same with Portsmouth and Chelsea."
In 2006 Zahavi he was engaged as a consultant to the Hero Football Fund, established by investors to raise £100 million to purchase shares in young professional footballers, although the fund did not proceed with its association with Zahavi because of the possibility of a conflict of interests.
In June 2010 it was reported that Zahavi owned 30% of the rights to Benfica's Brazilian midfielder, Ramires
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...
, a transfer target of 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...
. Kia Joorabchian
Kia Joorabchian
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...
reportedly owned a further 50% share of the rights to the player.
Other Business Interests
With his friend and associate, the businessman Eli Azur, Zahavi co-owns a media company, Charlton, that holds the television rights in IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
for major sports, including those of the English Premier League and the top flight of Israel's domestic football. The decision of the company to broadcast the 2006 World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
in Germany through a pay-per-view offering proved very unpopular in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, leading to a boycott of the service and compromising Zahavi's reputation in the country. He is also holds actions of HAZ Racing Team, one of the top motorsport teams in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(actually the "Z" on HAZ comes from his last name).