Andrea Gaudenzi, president of the ATP, has announced the imminent agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). The Arab entity, which has already embarked on football and golf, intends to develop infrastructures, events and new technologies for tennis.
A landmark agreement is the one the Professional Tennis Players Association (ATP) and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are about to sign after this sunday andrea gaudenzi -president of the sports entity- acknowledges having maintained “positive talk” with the PIF.
The Arab body intends to enter tennis as it has already done with other disciplines such as football, where he bought Newcastle in England last year for 300 million pounds (330 million euros), and golf with the establishment of the LIV circuit one that has signed some of the best specialists in the world with millionaire prices.
In any case, it is worth mentioning that this latest foray of the PIF was not without complications: initially the PGA banned golfers who joined the LIV, until a few weeks ago the two entities agreed to merge the projects .
The ATP boss said the deal aims to develop infrastructures, events and new technologies for tennis while emphasizing that new investors should be clear that “You have to respect the history of the sport and the product” .
In this sense, the former Italian tennis player added that it is essential “preserving something sacred, the rules of sport. It’s not a video game, it’s not a movie. he pointed out categorically.
A first step of the imminent deal would involve the transfer of the next Next Gen Finals a tournament that brings together the best players under the age of 21 in the world, to the Saudi city of Jeddah having taken place since its inception in 2017 in Milan, Italy.
Pending an official announcement, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has already signed with the British capital fund CVC which will allow the investment of 150 million dollars in the circuit.
During this time, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) he was set to move the Davis Cup finals from Madrid and Malaga in Spain to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
