Team New Zealand received a multimillion dollar loan from its main rival, Alinghi syndicate head Ernesto Bertarelli, before agreeing to challenge for sailing's 2007 America's Cup, the New Zealand Herald reported Saturday.
Grant Dalton, Team New Zealand's general manager, said the loan was interest free and had "no strings attached."
Dalton refused to disclose the amount involved, but said Bertarelli made the loan to ensure the most competitive syndicates challenged for the Cup off Valencia, Spain in three years.
Bertarelli's "motive was to ensure that Team New Zealand competes at Valencia because, in his view, the regatta would lose some of its appeal without us," Dalton was quoted saying. "It would be like holding the [soccer] World Cup without Brazil."
Bertarelli, an Italian-Swiss biotech billionaire who formed the Alinghi syndicate in 2000 and poached then Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts, is reportedly a close friend of Dalton.
Alinghi dismissed Coutts last week, accusing him of violating his employment contract. The record-breaking skipper has expressed an interest in returning to Team New Zealand.
Alinghi became the first European team to win the Cup in 152 years when it beat Team New Zealand 5-0 in the 31st Cup match in March last year.
Team New Zealand was wavering over its participation for 2007 before signing a substantial sponsorship deal with Dubai-based Emirates Airlines in June. The loan from Bertarelli was made just before the sponsorship deal was completed and allowed New Zealand to confirm funding for a challenge.
Dalton said the loan had been made by Bertarelli personally and had not come from Alinghi.
"It's a no-strings-attached deal which means it's a money deal," Dalton told the Herald. Bertarelli, "has no involvement in any shape or form in Team New Zealand. It's a completely arms-length deal."
Dalton took charge of Team New Zealand last year, saying it would not take part in the 2007 Cup unless it could secure enough funding to be fully competitive.
It's participation at Valencia was in serious doubt until the Emirates deal, worth an estimated NZ$35 million (US$22.3 million) was struck.
The leading syndicates at the 2003 Cup had budgets of up to US$90 million.
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS