Aston Villa owners V Sports have been accused of “taking advantage” of Portuguese club Vitoria, with questions being asked about their ownership.
V Sports, the holding company controlled by billionaires Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, holds a 29% minority stake in the Portuguese club.
They initially bought the club in February 2023. They acquired a 46% stake that was near wholly approved by the club’s members. That stake was lowered to 29% later that year after Aston Villa and Vitoria both qualified for the 2023/24 Europa Conference League.
To comply with UEFA rules, V Sports reduced their stake and transferred 17% back to the Portuguese club. They also relinquished their representation on Vitoria’s board of directors.
That does not mean their interest in the club has diminished, though. They are still seen as a key part of the group’s Multi Club Ownership network.
Aston Villa are at the head of that umbrella. It also includes Real Union, ZED FC in Egypt and Vissel Kobe in Japan.
The relationship has already seen players moving between both clubs. Two Aston Villa players headed to the Portuguese club on loan this summer.
Taking advantage
Some aren’t happy with that arrangement, though. And one of those, former presidential candidate Viriato Sampaio, is now asking questions of the Aston Villa owners. He fears that the Portuguese club risk losing their identity.
“In Vitória we are different, unique on the field and we go to all the stadiums outside the country. But this management and the chairman of the MAG have not yet realized that we are different when we defend the interests of the club,” he said.
“Whenever they are faced with such a fractious proposal, which could make the club look completely different in 30 years, the members intensify the need for clarification.
“Given that the people connected to V Sports are English. And, in the UK, they have broken up with the cheerleading, will this partner have the same understanding regarding the support for Victoria’s organized cheerleading?
“For us, the club and the fans are inseparable. The fans translate Vitória’s identity. About ten years ago, there was a GA with a proposal to greatly change the shareholder situation of Vitória and welcome any new investors. The partners made it clear that it was not the right way.
“Ten years later, this Directorate is presenting a proposal of a similar content. This has nothing to do with agendas. Elections are in March 2029. We want this board to fulfil its mandate in the best possible way. And for Vitória to have the greatest success.
“For the past four years, the current president has been responsible for financial management. Now he has delivered the numbers he has and V Sports and Nassef are taking advantage of a fragile situation caused by the mismanagement of recent years.”
Questions to be asked
Sampaio sounds like a man who is very much against the Aston Villa arrangement at this moment in time. But that is contradictory to what he said in his presidential campaign.
Indeed, during that campaign, he defended the partnership with V Sports. That was put to him by A Bola, and he insisted it was actually a question of clarification.
“What I defended was that if we already have a partner indoors, then we have to talk to him,” he insisted.
“But we have to defend the interests of the club. If you ask the chairman of Vitoria, he is not able to say what Aston Villa want to do with the club.
“They have a stake in a Spanish club (Real Unión) and a French club (Annecy), and you haven’t seen much investment. In the parasocial agreement that is being made and that we have already consulted, there is nothing that says what Aston Villa are going to do with Vitoria.
“We have negative equity of €36.8m. €3.8m represents 10% of this value. He is clearly someone who is struggling and is willing to deliver, almost without negotiating better terms for Vitoria’s interests.”
Transfer doubts
He also wants more clarification on what is going on when players move between the two clubs.
“If players come, it is not clear whether the pass is from Vitoria or Aston Villa,” he concluded.
“If they are borrowed with a share of the salaries. When they are sold, Vitória does not stand to gain anything…
“Several questions have been asked by partners and the answers, at least from the president, are very unclear.
“He gives the idea that a path has been taken by him, in financial management, to dig a crater of very large liabilities and now he gives the partners a proposal saying that it is the only path. In our view, it is not.”
