On Monday, an interesting discovery alarmed the media outlets in the sports world of Argentina. As you may know, the Monumental Stadium was recently renovated with a fresh new paint job and modifications through out the stands. The main question in this sensitive, financial world was: How did River pay for the half a million project to renovate the stadium?
It has to be noted that the company who was hired to perform this work got a great deal. They will be receiving ten equal payments of $10,000 per month, plus rights to one of the suites located in the Belgrano section of the stadium. The value of the suite itself was $32,000. As for the rest of the money?
Like many other clubs in the world, especially following Spain’s Villareal example, River decided to uses it players as collateral. River gave a percentage of certain players to the renovation company, allowing the company to receive monetary compensation in case of a transaction. The list is as follows: 10% of Matias Abelairas, 20% of Nicolas Domingo, 15% of Diego Barrado, and 20% of Gustavo Fernandez. This was all approved by River’s directors in a vote of 14-1.
Once again, another magnificent move by those in management, who seem to sink River further. If we start selling percentages of players to pay debts, how will River make a profit? Scary.
