Britain’s Yorkshire County Cricket Club is seeking funding from Middle Eastern investors for a refinancing, audit and advisory firm Grant Thornton said on Wednesday.
Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar have in recent years increased their focus on investing in sports and hosting events as a soft power tool and to boost economic diversification.
“A large proportion of the target investor pool is based in the United Arab Emirates and India, with additional names from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” Grant Thornton in the UAE, which is working with Yorkshire, told Reuters.
Yorkshire cricket club and a number of individuals were charged by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) last year after an investigation into racism allegations made by ex-Yorkshire player Azeem Rafiq, who said in 2021 he had been a victim of institutional racism at the club.
Grant Thornton said sovereign wealth funds, family offices and private equity investors were being looked at “as part of a wider refinancing exercise” in Yorkshire, without giving further details.