With a net value of $5.1 billion, Real Madrid is currently the world's richest football club, and that is visible in its big-ticket signings as some of the game's top legends have played for it. But while the club is used to buying its way to the top by purchasing talent that ensures victory, even Real Madrid can't win on all fronts all the time.
Days after a draw with Manchester City on the football field, Real Madrid has lost a $440 million battle in court against Abu Dhabi's sovereign investment fund Mubadala.
What was the agreement?
Real Madrid had moved court against the fund demanding the amount alleging that Mubadala had failed to honour a 2014 sponsorship deal for its statdium.
As part of the agreement, Mubadala was supposed to a planned overhaul of the club's homeground Santiago Benabeu in the Spanish capital.
It would also give rights to the Emirati fund to name the stadium for a period of 20 years.
What went wrong?
The original plan was to install a roof on top of the ground and modify the exterior to integrate a hotel and shopping centre into it, but it was blocked by a Madrid court in 2015.
Two years later, Madrid city proposed a new plan, which was different from what Real Madrid and Mubadala had agreed on.
But the contract had expired before the two could come to an agreement on the new plan, and the deal failed to materialise.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
