Syed

Madrid, Jan. 21 (Reuters): A Bahrain-based businessman has become the second Indian to own a premier-division European football club.

Ahsan Ali Syed has completed the purchase of Racing Santander — now placed 14th among the 20 clubs in Spain’s La Liga — his office said today without giving any financial details.

French news agency AFP had reported yesterday that Syed, founder and chairperson of investment company Western Gulf Advisory, planned to buy the indebted club for 30-40 million euros (Rs 184-246 crore).

Last October, Syed had failed in an attempt to buy the English Premier League (EPL) club Blackburn Rovers, which was acquired by the Pune-based Venkateshwara Hatcheries.

Having lost to an Indian opponent, Syed will now have to contend on the field with a Gulf rival: a member of the Qatari royal family bought Racing’s La Liga rivals Malaga last May.

“Football is not only an investment for me but my personal passion,” AFP quoted Syed as saying yesterday.

Today, he said: “I look forward to an active and long-term commitment to this great club and will invest all my knowledge and financial strength to elevate the club to the highest level of success in Spain and Europe.”

For a “great club”, Racing has a modest record. It has never won the league in its 98-year history and its best finish in the past 75 years has been sixth position in 2007-08, when it qualified for the Uefa Cup. It finished 16th last season, just escaping relegation, which threatens this year again.

Western Gulf Advisory’s website says Syed “considers himself and his company to be experts in turnaround stories”. It says Syed is “a financial adviser to sovereign wealth, royalty, as well as many high net worth individuals”.