Former Brazilian striker Ronaldo Nazario formally signed the contract by which he became the owner of 90% of the Cruzeiroone of the most traditional soccer clubs in Brazil but currently playing in the second division of the Brazilian Championship.
The former player of the Brazilian team signed on April 8 the contract that makes him, together with his business group, the controller and manager of the Sociedad Anónima de Fútbol (SAF) Cruzeiro, reported the management of the Belo Horizonte team in a release.
“Cruzeiro is already effectively under the management of Ronaldo Nazario and his business group. Following the approval by acclamation last week by the Board of Directors of the adjustments to the contract model, Cruzeiro and Ronaldo signed the purchase contract for the 90 % of the shares,” the note states.
The signing of the definitive contract put an end to almost four months of negotiations and disputes since, on December 18, ‘el Fenomeno’ announced a pre-agreement by which he expressed his desire to control and manage the football club that signed him to the 18 years and in which he was born professionally.
The discovery of debts that did not appear in the initial documentation and the resistance of Cruzeiro’s directors to cede all power to the footballer postponed the signing of the agreement and even questioned it.
The initial contract established that Ronaldo, owner of Real Valladolid, would pay some 400 million reais (today 85 million dollars) over several years for 90% of the sports entity’s shares, and would assume the debts contracted by the team, which they reach 1,000 million reais (about 212.7 million dollars).
To adjust the agreement and include the debts that did not appear initially, the Cruzeiro leaders included new assets in the ceded part, such as the team’s training camps.
Although the new contract is unknown, press reports indicate that Ronaldo’s outlay will be much lower than initially planned.
In order to hand over its control and management to a private group, Cruzeiro had to change its statutes to become a SAF, the figure for which several Brazilian clubs, such as Botafogo, Vasco da Gama and Bahía, have been negotiating agreements to be taken over by business groups.
Ronaldo only signed the contract after the club’s advisers approved its conditions and he did so ten days before the deadline to reach an agreement expired.
“I feel honored to be able to lead the process of rebuilding the club. The fans and the market can be sure that we will not rest until we widely implement an efficient, ethical management model that offers sporting success,” said the former Barcelona striker and the Real Madrid quoted in the statement.
Until today, the club’s president, Sergio Sandro Rodrigues, celebrated the agreement and said he was happy to hand over the command to Ronaldo and his competent team, with whom “I am sure that our football will resume its successful path”.
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