Manchester City now have a dozen sibling clubs dotted around the world after their owners completed a 90 percent purchase of Brazilian club Bahia.
City Football Group announced the majority takeover on Thursday, with chief executive Ferran Soriano saying that they would aim to “help” domestic football in Brazil and grow the game financially.
But within hours of that deal being announced, it was revealed that a Belgian club was taking legal action against the country’s federation after accusing another CFG team, Lommel SK, of receiving “foreign subsidies” which they argue is in contravention of European Union law.
Royal Excelsior Virton, who finished bottom of the second tier, alleged “financial doping” was in play at Lommel, whom they describe as a "state club", and they should not have been granted a licence to compete by the Royal Belgian Football Association. CFG have not commented on the legal action. Lommel have reportedly received about £15m in investment since a 2020 takeover.
Earlier this year UEFA warned that multi-club ownership models represent a “material threat” to the integrity of competitions.
Yet the governing body’s president Aleksander Ceferin subsequently said in an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap that rules around one firm owning several clubs could be softened. Clubs with the same backers are currently barred from competing against each other in European competitions.
"There is more and more interest for this multi-club ownership and we shouldn't just say no [to] the investments, and for multi-club ownership," Ceferin said. "But we have to see what kind of rules we set in that case, because the rules have to be strict."
Bahia are the third South American club owned by CFG after Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay and partner club Bolivar in Bolivia. CFG also own clubs in Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, Sichuan and Yokohama.
Across Europe they own Spanish side Girona, French club Troyes and Italian side Palermo in addition to Lommel, who are managed by former Arsenal coach Steve Bould.
Upon completion of the Bahia deal, Soriano said: "In Brazil, football is the number one sport but it's not developed as it should from the economic point of view," said CFG boss Ferran Soriano.
"Today, the Premier League is what it is due to how it was structured. It will depend on us and the other Brazilian clubs to grow the championship in a general way.
"The potential is spectacular. It is the greatest source of talent in the world. The opportunity cannot be lost and I want to help. We now begin a journey as partners to help the club reach its full potential."
